"High School Senior Voters Need Voting Conditions Guaranteed First"

Civic Group Urges Gwangju Office of Education
to Implement Practical Measures for Student Voting

As the June 3 presidential election approaches, there have been calls for practical measures to ensure high school seniors can participate in voting.

The civic group "Citizens' Coalition for a Society Without Academic Elitism" issued a statement the previous day, saying, "The education authorities should go beyond slogans and create realistic conditions so that all 6,442 high school senior voters in Gwangju can actually cast their ballots."

An early voting station set up at Yongjigwan, Chonnam National University, Bukgu, Gwangju on the 29th. Photo by Song Bohyun

The group pointed out, "Many high schools in Gwangju will hold regular classes even on early voting days, and a mock College Scholastic Ability Test is scheduled for June 4, the day after the election. This makes it difficult for students to participate in both early voting and the main voting day." The group also added, "For nationally recruited schools such as science high schools, the distance between students' residences and polling stations makes it physically difficult to vote on election day itself."

The Gwangju Office of Education has requested all schools to refrain from holding separate classes on election day and to cooperate in ensuring students' voting rights. Campaigns to encourage voting through social media and promotional materials such as card news are also underway.

The civic group emphasized, "Simple publicity is not enough to overcome real obstacles," and called for "specific guidelines, such as securing time for early voting, encouraging students to vote before school, and refraining from holding separate classes, as outlined by the South Chungcheong Office of Education."

The group stated, "Elections are a vivid field for civic education and a gateway for students to grow as voters," and urged the Gwangju Office of Education to take measures to ensure the practical guarantee of students' suffrage."