Early voting for South Korea's June 3 nationwide local elections and parliamentary by-elections drew more than 2.16 million participants by noon on the first day, Thursday.
According to the National Election Commission, 2,168,237 voters had cast early ballots as of noon, representing a turnout of 4.86%. The figure is 0.37 percentage points higher than the 4.49% recorded at the same point during the previous local elections in 2022.
A distinctive feature of this election cycle is that parliamentary by-elections are being held simultaneously in 14 districts. In the by-elections, often dubbed a "mini-general election," Pyeongtaek-B in Gyeonggi Province, Buk-A in Busan, and Gongju-Buyeo-Cheongyang in South Chungcheong Province have emerged as key battlegrounds.
Both the main opposition Democratic Party, which has vowed an overwhelming victory, and the ruling People Power Party, which has framed the vote as a referendum on the government, are urging their supporters to turn out. So far, however, turnout has not differed significantly from the previous local elections.
The turnout for the parliamentary by-elections will be announced separately by the election commission after early voting concludes for the day.
