South Koreans vote in national elections amid virus fears

South Korean voters wore masks and moved slowly between lines of tape at polling stations to elect lawmakers in the shadows of the coronavirus

A South Korean woman wears a mask and plastic gloves to cast her vote in the Parliamentary election. Getty

South Koreans wear masks and plastic gloves as they queue up to cast their ballots for the Parliamentary election in Seoul, South Korea. Getty

Voters wearing masks in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease cast a ballot at a polling station. Reuters

Voters wait in line to cast their ballots in Seoul, South Korea. Reuters

An electoral worker wearing a face mask waits as voters fill in ballots at polling booths in Seoul, South Korea. Reuters

Voters wait in a line while maintaining social distancing in Seoul, South Korea. AP

Voters wearing face masks wait in line to cast their ballots at a polling station during the parliamentary election in Seoul, South Korea. Reuters

A voter wearing plastic gloves casts a ballot at a polling station in Seoul, South Korea. Reuters

Soo Yoon and Yoon Kyung, members of South Korean girl group Rocket Punch, pose for a photo after casting their ballots for the general elections at a polling station in Seoul, South Korea. EPA

People wearing masks wait in line to cast their ballots at a polling station in Seoul, South Korea. Reuters

A woman walks past a queue of voters wearing masks while waiting to cast their ballots at a polling station in Seoul, South Korea. Reuters

Clad in a dopo, a traditional men's outfit, Yoo Bok-yeop (2-L), a senior teacher of Yangji Village School, and his family members photograph themselves after casting their ballots. EPA

A South Korean woman has her temperature checked upon arrival to cast her vote. Getty

South Koreans wear masks and plastic gloves as they queue up to cast their ballots for Parliamentary election in a polling station amid the coronavirus outbreak in Seoul, South Korea. Getty Images

South Korean voters wore masks and moved slowly between lines of tape at polling stations on Wednesday to elect lawmakers in the shadows of the spreading coronavirus.

The government resisted calls to postpone the parliamentary elections billed as a midterm referendum for President Moon Jae-in, who enters the final years of his term grappling with a historic public health crisis that is unleashing massive economic shock.

While South Korea’s electorate is deeply divided along ideological and generational lines and regional loyalties, recent surveys showed growing support for Mr Moon and his liberal party, reflecting the public’s approval of an aggressive test-and-quarantine program so far credited for lower fatality rates compared to worst-hit areas in China, Europe and North America.

“We are going through difficult times, but the coronavirus and politics are two different things,” 57-year-old Lee Kum said after voting in capital Seoul.

Another Seoul resident, Chung Eun-young, 45, said she arrived at her polling station just after 6am to avoid long lines.

“I was worried about the coronavirus,” she said. “They checked my temperature and handed me gloves, but it wasn’t as bothersome as I thought it would be.”

The long lines that snaked around public offices and schools followed record-high participation in early voting held on Friday and Saturday, and seemed to defy expectations of low voter turnout in the middle of an active campaign to minimize social contact to slow infections.

The voting in South Korea draws contrast with an upended election cycle in the United States, where some states pushed back presidential primaries or switched to voting by mail.

To hold the parliamentary elections as scheduled, South Korean election officials and health authorities drew up a deliberate set of preventive measures to reduce risks of the virus being transmitted.

Duct tape or stickers marked a meter (3 feet) of social-distancing space from nearby streets to ballot booths. Masked poll workers checked temperatures of arrivals and whisked anyone with a fever or not wearing a mask to separate areas to vote, sanitising the facilities after they do. Voters who passed the fever screening got sanitizing gel and disposable plastic gloves before entering booths to cast their ballots.

The government also mapped out a voting process for citizens quarantined at their homes, a number that ballooned after the country began enforcing two-week quarantines on all arrivals from overseas on April 1.

Officials texted eligible voters in self-quarantine before the vote and about 13,000 affirmed they wanted to participate. Those without fever or respiratory symptoms can temporarily leave their homes from 5:20 to 7 pm so they could cast their ballots after 6 pm, when polling stations close for other voters.

Quarantined voters will be escorted or monitored through tracking apps and must maintain a 2-metre distance at polling places, while workers fully dressed in protective suits will disinfect booths after each of them vote.

Hospitalised virus patients were able to vote by mail if they had applied. Around 400 mildly ill patients participated in early voting at shelters.

South Korea has confirmed more than 10,590 infections and 225 deaths from Covid-19 with new cases declining in recent weeks. But there’s concern about rising infections in the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area and worries that crowds at parks and on mass transportation may indicate a relaxing of social distancing.

“Please do exercise your valuable rights by voting, but also refrain from other gatherings or activities that involve multiple people in confined spaces,” Health Ministry official Yoon Tae-ho said.

South Korea’s 300-member parliament, the National Assembly, is elected every four years. Voters directly elect 253 district seats while the remaining 47 seats go to proportional representatives.

While dozens of parties have registered candidates, the elections are seen largely as a two-way race between Mr Moon’s ruling Democratic Party and the main conservative opposition United Future Party, which both have registered satellite parties in a bid to win more proportional representative seats.

South Korea is just three years removed from mass protests that led to the ouster of Mr Moon’s corrupt predecessor, but public displays of its dynamic democracy were muted this year by the virus. Candidates, wearing masks and gloves, avoided large rallies and handshakes. Things were more heated on the internet, which overflowed with bitter exchanges between supporters of Mr Moon and his conservative opponents, who accuse the government of economic and foreign policy failures and botching the financial response to the epidemic.

Before the virus began absorbing public attention, Mr Moon saw his support falter over a decaying job market, corruption scandals surrounding key political allies and an ambitious but fragile diplomacy with rival North Korea that’s falling apart.

Mr Moon held three summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un in 2018, but the North in recent months severed virtually all cooperation with the South amid a stalemate in larger nuclear negotiations with the United States. The North has also been dialing up weapons tests and fired a barrage of missiles into the sea on Tuesday.

A ruling party victory will likely embolden Moon to drive his key domestic and foreign policies, including resuming inter-Korean cooperation and inducing US-North Korea talks, said Duyeon Kim, a senior adviser at the Brussels-based International Crisis Group.

“If the opposition wins, Mr Moon will likely become a lame duck, and party politics will quickly pivot to preparing for the 2022 presidential elections,” she said.