Early voting turnout for South Korea's 9th nationwide local elections reached 1.7% as of 9 a.m. on the first day of voting Thursday, the National Election Commission said.
Of the 44,649,908 eligible voters nationwide, 758,381 cast their ballots after polls opened at 6 a.m. The figure is 0.11 percentage point higher than the 1.59% turnout recorded at the same time during early voting for the 8th local elections in 2022.
By region, South Jeolla Province posted the highest turnout at 4.12%, followed by North Jeolla Province at 3.16%, Gangwon Province at 2.22% and Gwangju at 2.08%. Daegu recorded the lowest turnout at 1.24%, followed by Gyeonggi Province at 1.36%, Incheon at 1.42% and Busan at 1.44%. Seoul stood at 1.57%.
Early voting will take place over two days through Friday at 3,571 polling stations across the country. Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and voters must bring a valid ID to participate.
