South Korea to allow absentee voting by coronavirus patients in parliament elections

An official from the National Election Commission checks posters for candidates of upcoming parliamentary election in Seoul, South Korea, April 1, 2020. Picture taken April 1, 2020. Yonhap via REUTERS

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea will allow coronavirus patients to vote by mail or as absentees in parliamentary elections this month, as a two-week campaign kicked off on Thursday in a country grappling with a steady rise in new infections.

Voters go to the polls on April 15 to elect 300 members of the National Assembly for the next four years, in an exercise posing challenges over how to rein in the virus at polling places while ensuring people's right to vote.