투표보조인제도의 법적 쟁점과 개선 방안

Abstract

The voting assistant system is an electoral system that provides assistance to electors who are unable to cast their ballots independently due to obstacles in the voting process. Currently, there are three legal issues being discussed regarding the voting assistant system. First, the current law excludes people with developmental disabilities from the scope of the voting assistant system, and it is argued that the law should be amended so that people with developmental disabilities can receive assistance from voting assistants. Second, it is argued that the current law requires that two polling assistants must be accompanied by a non-family member, and this restriction should be abolished. Third, it is argued that the voting assistant system has a problem of revealing the contents of the vote to the voting assistant in order to guarantee the voting rights of the disabled, so it is necessary to prepare an alternative that can guarantee the confidentiality of voting. If we apply the principle of practical harmonization in order to provide a legislative alternative that maximizes the constitutional values that conflict with each other, we can conclude the following conclusions about the present legal issues.
 The conclusion of the first argument is as follows. The current law excludes people with developmental disabilities from the application of the voting assistant system on the grounds of the possibility of compulsory voting by a voting assistant. However, it is desirable that such a restriction be abolished because it would result in sacrificing the superior constitutional value of universal suffrage in order to guarantee the principle of free suffrage.
 The conclusion of the second argument is as follows. The current law requires two polling assistants to accompany non-family members to ensure the elector's freedom to vote. However, this restriction is unduly restricts the principle of secret elections and should be abolished. The conclusion of the third argument is as follows. The essential problem with the voting assistant system stems from the unilateral retreat of the principle of secret suffrage in a situation where the principle of universal suffrage and the principle of secret suffrage are in conflict. Therefore, efforts are required to reconcile two conflicting constitutional values through a third alternative. A third alternative is possible through the improvement of voting aids that support the independent marking of persons with disabilities. According to foreign legislative precedents, the introduction of an ideal voting aid presupposes the introduction of an electronic voting system. Therefore, as a third alternative, it is necessary to consider the introduction of voting aids combined with the electronic voting system to a limited extent.