Early Voting for Local Elections on First Day... Closes with 10.18% Turnout

By-election turnout at 10.62%
Highest in Jeonnam, lowest in Daegu

On the 27th, the early voting day for the 8th nationwide local elections, citizens are casting their votes at the early voting station set up in Terminal 1 of Incheon International Airport. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] The National Election Commission announced that the final turnout rate on the first day of early voting for the 8th nationwide simultaneous local elections on the 27th was recorded at 10.18%.

Among the 44,303,449 eligible voters nationwide, 4,508,869 had cast their votes that day.

The final turnout rate on the first day of early voting was higher than that of the 2014 local elections (4.75%) and the 2018 local elections (8.77%), but did not reach the level of the 20th presidential election (17.57%).

Among the 17 metropolitan cities and provinces, Jeonnam recorded the highest final early voting rate at 17.26%. This was followed by Gangwon (13.32%), Jeonbuk (13.31%), Gyeongbuk (12.21%), Chungbuk (10.89%), Jeju (10.84%), Gyeongnam (10.71%), Chungnam (10.36%), Seoul (10.09%), Sejong (10.05%), Incheon (9.64%), Ulsan (9.55%), Daejeon (9.42%), Busan (9.36%), Gyeonggi (9.00%), Gwangju (8.60%), and Daegu (7.02%).

An official from the Election Commission stated, "This is the third time early voting has been applied in local elections, following the 6th and 7th local elections," adding, "Compared to then, promotion of early voting has been better, and through general and presidential elections, citizens' awareness has increased, resulting in a higher turnout rate."

The Election Commission first introduced the early voting system in the first half of 2013 during by-elections to improve voter convenience. It was first implemented nationwide during the 6th local elections in 2014.

Looking at the final early voting rate by region on this day, Jeonnam recorded the highest turnout rate among the 17 metropolitan cities and provinces at 17.26% (272,706 voters).

Gangwon (13.32%), Jeonbuk (13.31%), Gyeongbuk (12.21%), Chungbuk (10.89%), Jeju (10.84%), Gyeongnam (10.71%), Chungnam (10.36%), Seoul (10.09%), and Sejong (10.05%) all exceeded a 10% turnout rate. This was followed by Incheon (9.64%), Ulsan (9.55%), Daejeon (9.42%), Busan (9.36%), Gyeonggi (9.00%), Gwangju (8.60%), and Daegu (7.02%).

The early voting rate on the first day for the seven parliamentary by-election districts nationwide was 10.62%. Chungnam Boryeong-Seocheon recorded the highest at 16.38%, followed by Incheon Gyeyang-eul at 11.98%. Jeju Jeju-eul (11.25%), Gyeonggi Seongnam Bundang-gap (10.16%), and Gangwon Wonju-gap (10.04%) also exceeded 10%. The lowest turnout rate was 8.11% in Daegu Suseong-eul. Changwon Uichang also recorded a low rate at 8.3%.

On the last day of early voting, the 28th, general voting will start at 6 a.m. and end at 6 p.m. COVID-19 confirmed patients will vote separately from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on the same day.