Posted : 2021-04-01 15:06
Updated : 2021-04-01 15:17
Foreign residents participate in a mock poll at Seoul Station organized by an election office in Seoul in this May 31, 2018 photo, ahead of the nationwide local elections which were held three days later. Korea Times file
By Lee Hyo-jin
Eligible immigrant voters in the upcoming Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections who are not fluent in Korean are being sidelined due to the absence of translated information on the candidates and voting procedures.
Following the revision to the Public Official Election Act in August 2005, foreign nationals who had stayed in the country for over three years after obtaining permanent residency were given the right to vote in local elections. The upcoming Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections set for April 7 will be the fifth time they will be able to exercise their voting rights.