[Early Voting] Local Election Early Voting Turnout Hits Record High at 23.51%... Will It Continue Through Election Day?

[Financial News] The early voting turnout for the 9th nationwide local elections reached 23.51%, setting a new all-time high for local elections. It is the highest figure since early voting was introduced in local elections in 2014. However, whether the strong early voting momentum will carry over to election day and break the overall turnout record will likely depend on how many voters show up on June 3.
According to the National Election Commission (NEC) on the 30th, 10,498,411 of the 44,649,908 eligible voters cast ballots during the two-day early voting period from the 29th. The final early voting turnout stood at 23.51%.
That is 2.89 percentage points higher than the previous local election in 2022, when the final early voting turnout was 20.62%. The record for local election early voting turnout has been rewritten for the first time in four years.
By region, Jeonnam recorded the highest turnout at 38.95%. In Jeonnam, 606,907 of the 1,558,206 eligible voters took part in early voting. It was followed by North Jeolla Province at 35.05%, Gwangju Metropolitan City at 27.83%, Sejong Special Self-Governing City at 27.67%, and Gangwon State at 27.05%.
Daegu Metropolitan City had the lowest turnout. Its early voting rate was 18.65%, with 382,250 of 2,049,683 eligible voters casting ballots. Gyeonggi Province at 20.96%, Busan at 21.29%, and Incheon Metropolitan City at 21.62% also fell below the national average.
In the Seoul metropolitan area, only Seoul exceeded the national average. Seoul recorded 23.84% turnout, with 1,983,478 of 8,319,134 eligible voters casting ballots. Gyeonggi Province saw 2,493,02 voters participate out of 11,878,997, for 20.96%, while Incheon Metropolitan City recorded 21.62% with 575,729 voters out of 2,663,459.
Still, a higher early voting turnout does not necessarily mean the final turnout will also set a new record. The rise in early voting also includes voters who would have voted on election day but chose to vote early instead. Ultimately, how much the overall turnout rises will depend on participation on June 3.
Since this early voting turnout is 2.89 percentage points higher than four years ago, the chances of surpassing the 2022 local election final turnout of 50.9% have increased. The bigger question is whether turnout can recover to the 60.2% level seen in the 2018 local elections. The highest final turnout in the history of local elections was 68.4% in the first local elections in 1995.
Meanwhile, once sealing is completed, the early voting ballot boxes will be moved to the relevant election commission that night and stored until election day on June 3. Voting on election day will run from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on June 3.
spring@fnnews.com Lee Bo-mi Reporter