South Korea's rival parties are mobilizing all efforts to encourage early voting on May 29-30, ahead of the June 3 local elections and parliamentary by-elections. With key battleground races showing razor-thin margins, both parties are pouring resources into rallying their bases early, arguing that turnout will determine victory.
According to political sources on Wednesday, Democratic Party leader Jung Chung-rai plans to cast his early ballot on Thursday morning in his constituency of Mapo-gu and appeal for support for the party's candidates. Appearing on the YouTube program "Kim Ou-joon's Newsfactory" earlier in the day, Jung urged, "Let's gather, let's vote." He added, "All citizens who support President Lee Jae-myung should come out and vote. Please make sure to participate in early voting."
The People Power Party, meanwhile, sought to dispel "early voting distrust" raised among parts of the conservative base and called for active participation. The party plans to operate a "CCTV monitoring team" to oversee ballot box storage during both the early voting and main voting periods, and will conduct intensive monitoring. Some leadership figures, including Floor Leader Song Eon-seog, will participate in early voting, while party leader Jang Dong-hyuk will vote on the main election day.
"We will thoroughly examine and check the entire process so that there are no concerns about early voting," People Power Party Secretary General Jung Hee-yong said. "Citizens disappointed by an arrogant government and unqualified candidates should come to the polls and lend their strength to People Power Party candidates."
Both parties expect that a higher early voting turnout will work in their favor. Since voter interest in local elections is relatively low compared with presidential or general elections, the strategy is to rally supporters as much as possible from the early voting stage to seize the initiative and carry the momentum through to the main vote. With major contests — including the mayoral races in Seoul, Busan, Daegu and Ulsan, as well as the gubernatorial races in South Chungcheong and South Gyeongsang — locked in tight battles, the parties are also expected to fine-tune their election strategies based on regional early voting turnout.
"The election strategy is simple. The side that votes more wins," Democratic Party Secretary General Cho Seung-rae said at a press briefing the same day. "No matter how good the polling results are, they cannot translate into outcomes without votes." He added, "We are working to ensure that citizens' active participation in voting firmly supports the president's governance."
