'국민선거권' 논의의 2가지 기준: ‘연령’과 ‘의사능력’

Abstract

Article 24 of our Constitution expressly states that "all citizens shall have the right to vote as required by law." The common election rights which grant everyone the right to vote as long as they are 'nationals' are now attained in all but the 'age'. It became. Details are reserved by law, and the Public Elections Act states that citizens over the age of 19 have the right to vote. Although the Constitution stipulates that all citizens have the right to vote, the Public Official Elections Act restricts the right to vote based on age. It is important to have the right to vote, that is, to "hold" and to "event" the right to vote. If our Constitution states that "all citizens" have the right to vote, it means that all people have the right to vote, and the restriction on this should be considered as "exceptional". The researchers defined this as "national election rights." Under the current Public Elections Act, however, anyone who is only 19 years old retains and holds the right to vote, but anyone under the age of 19 cannot hold or exercise. First, the question of whether it is right for a person under the age of 19 to "hold" the right to vote, or whether to accept the right to vote for the whole nation, can be solved by the expansion of the general election rights and the definition of intergenerational justice. The debate over children's suffrage, which emphasizes the natural and the national rights of the suffrage, affirms the “holding” of the under 19s as a logic of strengthening democracy through the expansion of the general election. However, in case of events, only surrogate events such as parents are possible. Their discussion is not strictly a discussion of the expansion of ordinary elections. This is because if you have the right to hold minority rights, that is, if you pursue the general election right perfectly, you should look into the issue of 'events', and 'representative events' such as parents should function as 'exceptions' rather than principles. Their argument is simple because the criterion is age. However, adding a new standard, individual “ability,” can redefine the standard for “only events” under the age of 19. In other words,-based on the current Public Election Act-persons aged 19 or older can 'hold' and exercise solely the right to vote, regardless of their ability to 'will'. Based on the willingness to vote, the willingness to act alone is possible, and if not, it can be represented by parents. The affirmation of the “holding” of the right to vote and the sole “event” to those under the age of 19 is the expansion and completion of the true general election. The criterion for judging the sole exercise of the child's voting rights is the ability to judge, and the criteria are: ① knowing what the election is, ② identifying and choosing candidates, and ③ knowing the meaning of the elected representative. The subjects, methods, and timing of judging children's willingness will be revealed through subsequent research.