Early voting for Korea's 9th nationwide local elections reached a turnout of 20.94% as of 4 p.m. Sunday, two hours before polls closed, setting a new record for early voting in local elections.
According to the National Election Commission, 9,347,567 of the 44,649,908 eligible voters had cast their ballots as of 4 p.m. on the second day of early voting, bringing the turnout to 20.94%.
The figure already exceeded the final early voting turnout of 20.62% recorded in the 2022 local elections. It stands 0.32 percentage points above the previous record and 2.55 percentage points higher than the 18.39% turnout at the same time during the 8th local elections.
If the current pace continues, the final early voting turnout for this local election is expected to reach around 23%. The highest early voting turnout since the system was introduced was recorded in the 20th presidential election in 2022, when early voting turnout reached 36.93%.
By region, South Jeolla Province led participation so far with 35.89%, followed by North Jeolla Province (31.96%), Gwangju (24.82%), and Gangwon Province (24.62%).
Daegu posted the lowest turnout in the country at 16.53%. Gyeonggi Province (18.49%), Busan (18.98%), and Incheon (19.15%) also remained at relatively low levels. Seoul recorded a turnout of 20.87%.
Early voting, which began at 6 a.m. the previous day, ends at 6 p.m. Sunday. Voters can cast their ballots at any early voting station nationwide by presenting identification such as a resident registration card, driver's license, or passport.
A total of 3,571 early voting stations have been set up across the country for this local election. Voting station locations can be confirmed through the National Election Commission's website or its main hotline (1390).
