한국은 재외선거제도를 일찍이(1966년) 허용했지만, 민주주의의 기본원리를 왜곡한 독재정권에서 무시함으로써 오랫동안 폐지되었다가 최근에(2009년) 부활하는 변천과정을 경험하고 있다. 갑작스런 부활로 재외선거시스템상ㆍ입법상 하자들(loopholes)이 매우 많다. 2009년 2월 공직선거법의 개정 이후 재외선거의 입법 미비점을 보완하고자 입법개정안들이 국회에 제출되고 있고 학계에서도 활발히 논의중인데, 그 핵심은 주로 선거참여와 공정성 확보에 있다. 재외선거제도의 참여와 공정성문제는 기존의 국민주권이론의 단순한 확대적용으로 해결될 문제가 아니며, 동시에 당장에 개선해야 할 입법적 과제를 갖고 있다. 본 연구는 선거제도가 유권자의 행태에 영향을 미친다는 제도론적 선거이론의 시각에서 재외동포의 선거참여에 관한 의식과 태도, 그리고 공정한 선거관리에 관한 의식과 태도를 설문조사하고 분석했다. 그리고, 유권자의 행태가 선거결과에 영향을 미쳐 궁극적으로 제도의 변화를 가져온다는 실증 연구에 기초하여 재외동포의 선거의식과 태도에 대한 실증적 분석결과를 반영하여 현행 재외선거제도의 문제점을 검토하고 당면과제를 도출하였다. 투표에 있어서는 모름지기 유권자의 선거참여에 대한 인식과 태도에 따라 근본적인 참여율이 좌우된다 할 것이다. 이를 알아보기 위하여 투표참여의무감, 재외선거효능감과 주권의식, 투표참여의향과 기권사유, 후보자의 선택기준 등에 관해서 질의하였다. 공정한 선거관리는 제도적ㆍ환경적 요인 외에 유권자의 불공정선거에 대한 인식과 태도에 의해서도 크게 좌우된다. 공정한 선거관리에 관한 재외유권자의 인식과 태도를 조사하기 위해 선거폐단인식, 선거운동 기간 중 참여활동, 불법선거운동 경험시 행동 그리고 불법선거사례 인지도 등에 관해서 질의하였다. 재외선거 시스템에 현안문제를 분석하기 위해 본 조사에서는 투표방법과 참정권 확대 선호분야 등에 대해서 조사하였는데 재외선거제도의 입법정비대상으로는 첫째, 국회에 입법개정 발의된 ‘우편투표병행실시’와 ‘재외투표소 확대설치’가 있고, 둘째, 2007년 헌법재판소의 결정 내용 중 국회의 입법과정에서 누락된 ‘국민투표에 대한 재외선거 적용’과 ‘선원부재자투표 실시’ 입법사항이 있다. 그리고, 가능한 빨리 도입하여야 할 제도로써 ‘재외선거 운동의 관리공영제‘, 준영구명부제‘, 재외선거교육시행‘ 등이 있다. 중장기적 입법과제로는 ‘이중국적자와 재외선거권’, ‘국회 내재외국민의석(해외선거구 ‘비례대표해외특별구 국회의원’) 확보’의 정치적 대표권 부여가 있다.
An overseas election system was in fact introduced earlier in Korean history (1966). However, it was abolished and fundamental principles of democracy were largely ignored by authoritarian regimes for a long time before recent steps were taken toward their reinstatement. However, due to the rather abrupt reinstatement of overseas voting procedures, there are numerous legal loopholes to be found in the current overseas election system. Since revising the Public Official Election Act of February 2009, many bills have been proposed at the National Assembly to revise legislation and correct imperfections in the overseas election system. Moreover, many in Korean academia are currently engaged in active discussion and the essence of their discussions regards the means to promote an increase in the voting rate and ensure fairness. While the issues of ensuring adequate participation and fairness cannot be addressed by a simplistic application of popular sovereignty doctrine, there is certainly an implication here of urgent legislative tasks which must be addressed. In this respect, this research is a survey and an analysis of the consciousness and attitudes of Korean citizens living abroad on the topic of election participation and fair election management, from the perspective of the institutional theory of election that election systems affect voting behaviors. Moreover, based on findings of empirical studies that the behavior of voters influences election results and thus ultimately brings about changes in election systems, this research will identify problems in the current overseas election system and immediate tasks to be dealt with by leveraging the empirical analysis of the survey on the consciousness and attitude of overseas Koreans on election. It should be noted that in the end the rate of participation is largely determined by the basic attitude and consciousness of the voters regarding elections. To precisely understand these attitudes, the following questions were asked during our survey, which are related to the voters’ sense of obligation to vote; belief in the efficacy of overseas voting; consciousness of one’s sovereignty; intent to participate in the vote; reason for abstention where applicable and criteria of choosing a candidate: Fair election management is also largely dependent on the attitudes of voters about unfair elections, along with institutional and environmental factors. To understand the thoughts and attitudes of Korean overseas voters regarding fair elections, interviewers asked the following questions associated with the respondents’ perception of election wrongdoing, willingness to participate in the election process and activities, intended reactions when experiencing illegal campaign practices and awareness of the types of illegal campaign practices: To analyze the pending issues in the overseas election system, this study examined two areas, highlighting overseas Korean citizens’ preferences of voting methods and the preferred areas of suffrage extension. Numerous initiatives are called for: first, a legislative revision bill already proposed at the National Assembly that would allow voting by mail and increase the number of voting places in foreign countries; second, legislative measures which were omitted in earlier legislative revisions made in response to the Constitutional Court’s 2007 ruling, to allow the application of overseas election to referendums and absentee voting for sailors. Additionally, institutional measures that need to be addressed as quickly as possible include the introduction of public management of election campaigns in overseas elections, the introduction of a semipermanent list of overseas voters and implementing educational programs for overseas elections. Mid- to long-term legislative tasks would include granting voting rights to holders of dual nationalities, allocating seats in the National Assembly for overseas Korean communities (introduction of special overseas constituencies, parliamentarians of proportional representation systems representing overseas special districts) as a means to grant political representation rights to overseas Korean communities.
Ⅰ. Introduction Ⅱ. Thoughts and Attitudes about Participating in Overseas Elections Ⅲ. Expectations and Attitudes about Fair Election Administration Ⅳ. Conclusion : Present Problems in Korea Overseas Voting System [국문초록] [Abstract] [참고문헌]