South Korea's election watchdog said Thursday that it has decided to stop the absentee ballot process for next month's general elections for citizens living in Italy and 16 other countries due to the coronavirus outbreak.
  
The National Election Commission said the process will be suspended at 23 South Korean diplomatic missions in the 17 countries until April 6, meaning that eligible South Korean voters cannot cast their absentee ballots for the April 15 elections.
  
The 16 other countries are Germany, Spain, Ireland, Britain, the Kyrgyz Republic, France, Ghana, South Africa, Nepal, India, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the United States, Ecuador, Honduras and Colombia.
  
Last week, the election watchdog stopped the absentee ballot process at the South Korean Consulate General in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the COVID-19 was first reported in late December. (Yonhap)