The key tool of modern representative democracy is elections. The legitimacy of the authority of representatives in a democratic society comes from the approval they receive from the citizens through elections. A drop in voting rates is a crisis in participation in the process and a crisis in legitimate representation. In National Assembly by-elections held October 26, three times more people over the age of sixty voted than people in their twenties. According to the National Election Commission (NEC), 21 percent of voters in their twenties participated, compared to 61.2 percent of voters in their sixties.
Political apathy among young people is nothing new, but when there is such a disparity between age groups it is too serious to just let pass. The results of the October 26 by-elections have only half the representative legitimacy they should have. When elections that choose the people's representatives become events for middle aged and elderly voters it is a crisis for Korean democracy as a whole, regardless of whatever can be said about whether it is advantageous or not for certain political parties.
What the NEC's announcement shows you is that the problem of improving voting rates among young citizens is an urgent task that can no longer be ignored. In the history of Korean elections, young people tend to give up their right to vote much more in by-elections than in presidential and National Elections. Part of the problem is that elections just do not attract their interest, but another problem that must not be overlooked is the technical aspect of election management in this case, since by-elections are not legal holidays, making it hard for working people to find the time to vote.
A wide variety of ideas need to be considered, including keeping polling places open longer, giving people various incentives to vote, making it easier to vote by absentee ballot, and allowing people to vote ahead of election day. Of course there also needs a profound transformation in politics, so that it does not remain the object of disillusion, cynicism, and distrust.
The Hankyoreh, 24 December 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection]
[Editorial] Young Citizens Not Voting |
