21st Presidential Election First Day Early Voting Rate 19.58% Record High

[Financial News] On the first day of early voting for the 21st presidential election on the 29th, the voter turnout recorded 19.58%, setting a record high.
The Central Election Management Committee announced that from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. that day, 8,691,711 people, or 19.58% of the total 44,391,871 eligible voters, completed voting, which is 2.01%p higher than the first day of early voting in the 20th presidential election.
With the early voting rate hitting a record high from the first day, the possibility of surpassing the highest early voting rate record of 36.93% in the 20th presidential election is increasing. This presidential election's early voting will continue until 6 p.m. on the 30th. By region, Jeonnam showed the highest early voting rate at 34.96%, while Daegu recorded the lowest nationwide at 13.42%.
Typically, early voting tends to have high participation rates from the younger 2030 generation of office workers and the middle-aged 4050 group, who are known to vote relatively early. Their support rate is relatively skewed towards progressive parties, and the early voting rate in this age group is reported to be 5-10%p higher than the main voting. On the other hand, the conservative support base, which is solid among those in their 60s and older, tends to focus on voting on the main voting day rather than early voting.
Major presidential candidates encouraged their supporters to participate in voting as they went to early voting on this day. Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, exercised his voting rights with four young people at the Sinchon-dong Community Center early voting station in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, while Kim Moon-soo, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, went to early voting with his daughter Kim Dong-joo at the Gyeongyang 1-dong Community Center in Gyeyang-gu, Incheon.

hjkim01@fnnews.com Kim Hak-jae Reporter