television was furnished in the trainees’ dormitory at the Korea Army Training Center; and (3)
Complainant Yoon ○○ was able to acquire election information through other means, it is difficult to say
that the Watching Prohibition of this case infringes upon the Complainant’s right to vote and equality.
2. Provision on Election Campaign Bulletins of this case
There are only about 40 braille libraries functioning as braille publication facilities and about 20 of which
are located in the capital area. Unlike the booklet-type election campaign bulletins, the costs of
preparing braille-type election campaign bulletins are borne by the State. The Provision on Election
Campaign Bulletins of this case was introduced taking into account the practical difficulties caused by
the lack of braille publication facilities and persons who engage in braille translation or correction, and
the possibility of the State taking excessive financial burden relating thereto.
The legislators have the freedom to legislative formation through which various ways can be explored to
guarantee the right to access to election information for individuals with visual disabilities. The
legislators amended the Public Official Election Act on August 13, 2015 to require a candidate or a
political party running in a presidential election, etc. to prepare and submit election campaign bulletins
in braille
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or substitute them with print-ready barcodes. This is a considerably improved legislation in terms of
expanding opportunities for persons with visual disabilities to obtain election information. Also, adopting
the above method instead of increasing the number of pages of braille-type election campaign bulletins
does not seem to go beyond the limitations of legislative discretion.
In addition, given that the Public Official Election Act stipulates that essential issues shall be included in
the braille-type election campaign bulletins and that there are many other means for the visually
impaired to obtain election information, the Provision on Election Campaign Bulletins of this case does
not violate the right to vote and the right to equality of Complainant Kim □□.
3. Provisions on Korean Sign Language or Captions of this case
The Provisions on Korean Sign Language or Captions of this case prescribe the airing of Korean sign
language or captions as a discretionary matter, in consideration of the facts that the decision on airing
Korean sign language or captions depends on the substantial capability of broadcasting business
operators to secure staff, equipment, technical level, etc.; and that prescribing it as a mandatory matter
may incur excessive election costs and impose restrictions on the freedom of broadcasting and
programming of a broadcasting business operator and on the freedom of election campaign of a
candidate or a political party.
Making it compulsory to provide election information for hearing-impaired persons, particularly with
captions, has mostly been realized in a normative sense by means of the Broadcasting Act, the Act on
Welfare of Persons with Disabilities and the Act on the Prohibition of Discrimination against Persons with