The Constitutional Court has ruled that Korean expatriates and overseas students have the right to vote.
The full bench of the Constitutional Court chaired by Justice Kim Jong-dae on Thursday ruled unanimously that laws denying voting rights to overseas Korean nationals are incompatible with the Constitution. The court found in favor of a suit filed by 29 non-resident Korean nationals including a permanent resident in Japan and a seaman on an ocean-going ship.
In the ruling, the Constitutional Court said clauses in the election and national referendum laws that regard only Koreans with resident registration in the country as eligible voters âviolate the basic right to vote of overseas Korean nationals and residents in foreign countries." However, the court said declaring the laws unconstitutional, which would automatically void them, could cause confusion in preparing the electoral rolls for the 17th presidential and the 18th general elections this coming December and April. It therefore decided to tag them âincompatibleâ with the Constitution to give the legislature enough time to work out legal and technical measures. An incompatible law can be upheld for a certain period to prevent a legal vacuum.
The Constitutional Court stated the clauses will remain in effect until Dec. 31, 2008 and asked the National Assembly to revise them by then. If the house fails to do so, the clauses in question will lapse on Jan. 1, 2009.
The ruling gives Korean nationals including permanent residents in foreign countries the right to vote. It does not extend to ethnic Koreans with foreign passports.
But they are unlikely to get the ballot in the upcoming elections. The National Election Commission on Thursday already said it will be âdifficultâ to revise the laws before then.
As of the end of December 2005, some 6.63 million Koreans lived overseas. About 1.15 million of them were company employees and students, about 1.7 million were permanent residents in foreign countries, and 3.78 million had foreign passports.
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