President Lee Jae-myung cast his ballot Thursday at a polling station set up at the Samcheong-dong community service center in Jongno-gu, Seoul, near the presidential office, on the first day of early voting for the June 3 local elections.
Lee visited the early voting site with first lady Kim Hye-kyung. According to the presidential office, the couple participated in out-of-district voting for the Gyeyang-B constituency in Incheon, where their registered residence is located.
After presenting his ID and completing identity verification, Lee received eight ballot papers and entered the voting booth. He soon stepped back out, asking, "Where is the (election) supervisor?" He then showed his ballot to a poll worker and asked, "Is it okay if the circle mark is not complete and only half is stamped?"
He asked again, "Won't it become an invalid vote because it was only stamped halfway like this?" After hearing the poll worker confirm that it would not be invalidated, Lee returned to the booth and completed his vote.
Meanwhile, dozens of members of the developmental disability rights group "Korea People First" staged a picket protest outside the polling station, demanding that the National Election Commission produce pictorial ballots and introduce voting assistants. One person with a developmental disability handed Lee a handwritten letter containing their demands.
Lee asked about the current situation, raising questions such as, "How many eligible voters are there among people with developmental disabilities?" and "Does this mean you want candidates' faces to be included (on the ballot) so people can vote based on a person's face?" He also watched a demonstration of an assistive device that allows a paper with photos to be overlaid on the ballot.
He then said, "I will review whether this can be reflected in the main election," and asked his aides to report back on costs and other details. Lee took commemorative photos and shook hands with people with developmental disabilities, activists, and citizens near the polling station.
