Early voting for South Korea's 9th nationwide local elections concluded with a turnout of 23.51%, the highest ever recorded for a local election. The strong turnout has drawn attention to whether the momentum will carry over to the main vote on June 3.
According to the National Election Commission on Friday, a preliminary tally showed that 10,498,411 of the 44,649,908 eligible voters cast ballots during the early voting period, which ran from 6 a.m. the previous day to 6 p.m. on Friday. The 23.51% turnout was 2.89 percentage points higher than the 20.62% recorded during the 8th local elections in 2022, marking a record high for local elections. However, the highest early voting turnout since the system was introduced remains 36.93%, set during the 20th presidential election in 2022.
On the first day of early voting on Thursday, turnout stood at 11.60%, followed by 11.91% on Friday.
By region, South Jeolla Province posted the highest turnout in the country at 38.95%, followed by North Jeolla Province (35.05%), Gwangju (27.83%) and Sejong (27.67%).
Daegu, by contrast, registered the lowest turnout at 18.65%. Gyeonggi Province (20.96%), Busan (21.29%) and Incheon (21.62%) also fell below the national average. Seoul recorded 23.84%.
Early voting turnout in local elections has steadily increased since the system was introduced. When early voting was first implemented during the 6th local elections in 2014, turnout stood at just 11.49%, but it rose to 20.14% in the 7th local elections in 2018.
With early voting hitting a record high, attention has turned to the final turnout for the main vote. Only twice in the history of local elections has the final turnout exceeded 60%. The 1st local elections in 1995 set the all-time high at 68.4%, while the 7th local elections in 2018 recorded a turnout of 60.2%.
However, some analysts note that despite early voting turnout exceeding 20% in the 8th local elections, the final turnout came in at just 50.9%, raising questions about whether the current early voting enthusiasm will translate into strong final turnout.
Meanwhile, the final early voting turnout for the National Assembly by-elections, held concurrently with the local elections, came in at 24.12%. In Busan Buk-A, considered a key battleground, early voting turnout reached 25.57%, while Gyeonggi Pyeongtaek-B recorded 18.39%.
