Right to Vote and Eligibility for Election

• Right to Vote

  Korean citizens aged eighteen years of age or more have the right to vote in presidential elections and National Assembly elections. Korean citizens aged nineteen years of age or more that are registered as a resident in the constituency under the jurisdiction of the relevant local government as of the date used as the standard for creating the voters list has the right to vote in local elections. According to Article 34 (Preparation and Management of Registration Form of Foreigners) of the 'Immigration Control Act,' a non-Korean citizen registered in the relevant local constituency and who has had a resident visa for at least three years has the right to vote.
  
  However, any citizen that meets any of the following criteria as of election day may not be allowed to vote: 

  • A person who is declared incompetent
  • A person who is sentenced to imprisonment without prison labor or a heavier punishment but whose sentence execution has not been terminated or whose sentence execution has not been decided to be exempted
  • A person who commits an election crime, who violates the Election Act/the Political Fund Act, or who commits the crimes in connection with the duties while in office as the President, a member of the National Assembly, a member of local council, and a head of local government.
  • A person whose right to vote is suspended or forfeited according to a court ruling or any other Act.

• Eligibility to Register as a Candidate

  Korean citizens aged forty years of age or more and who have resided in the country for the last five years as of election day are eligible to run in presidential elections.
  Korean citizens aged twenty five years of age or more are eligible to run in National Assembly elections.
  Korean citizens who have been registered as a resident in the constituency under the jurisdiction of the relevant local government for sixty consecutive days or longer as of election day and is twenty five years of age or more is eligible to stand for elections for the relevant local council members and the head of the local government.