[Political X-File] Summer Voter Turnout Drought... Becoming a Member of the National Assembly with Only 11% Support

⑥Summer By-election Turnout That Shook the Central Election Commission
2010 Geyang-eul Won with Support from 1 in 10 Voters
2006 Songpa-gap Turnout Remained at 18%

Editor's Note‘Political X-Files’ is a series that delivers ‘unprecedented stories’ recorded in the election results and incidents of Korean politics.

The drought of voter turnout that comes every summer vacation season. For the National Election Commission, it is a terrifying memory comparable to a horror special. Despite diligently preparing and managing elections, it is frustrating when voters do not show up at the polling stations.

The so-called ‘late July to early August’ is the peak summer vacation season for many public institutions, schools, and kindergartens. Office workers also take their vacations during this time. Beaches and inland resorts are crowded with vacationers. What would happen if an election day to choose a member of the National Assembly is set at the peak of summer vacation?

The result is obvious. A festival of historically low voter turnout. This has been repeatedly seen in by-elections held in the middle of general elections.

According to the National Election Commission on the 26th, the voter turnout for the 2014 July 30 by-election in the Gwangsan district of Gwangju Metropolitan City was only 22.3%. The voter turnout in the Haeundae-gu and Gijang-gun Gap districts of Busan Metropolitan City also remained at 22.9%.

On July 29, 2019, when the full-scale summer vacation began, the area around Sejongno, Jongno-gu, Seoul, appeared quieter than usual. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

It was not only the 2014 July by-election. The voter turnout for the July 28, 2010 by-election in the Gyeyang-gu Eul district of Incheon was 23.2%. At that time, a new member of the National Assembly was elected in late July, when summer vacation was in full swing. Four out of five voters did not participate in the vote to elect a new member of the National Assembly.

It is still too early to be surprised. The voter turnout for the July 26, 2006 by-election in the Songpa Gap district of Seoul was only 18.1%. This was also a late July by-election. Most voters did not visit the polling stations. However, the winner of that election was still the same member of the National Assembly.

When voter turnout is excessively low, the foundation of representative democracy is shaken. For example, suppose the voter turnout in a National Assembly election reaches 70%, and a candidate is elected with an overwhelming 70% of the votes in that district.

Compared to the aforementioned by-elections, this may seem like a relatively high turnout, but if you calculate the percentage of votes relative to the total number of voters, it is only 49% (1×0.7×0.7×100). This means that there are more voters who did not vote for that member of the National Assembly than those who did.

On April 7, 2021, the day of the April 7 by-elections, citizens lined up to vote at Hapjeong-dong 3rd polling station set up at Hapjeong-dong Community Center in Mapo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Then, how many votes did the members of the National Assembly elected in by-elections with low voter turnout around 20% receive from the total electorate?

In the 2006 Songpa Gap by-election with the lowest voter turnout, Maeng Hyung-gyu, the candidate from the Hannara Party, received support from 20,824 out of 150,215 voters. This is about 13.9% of the total electorate. Although the voter turnout in Songpa Gap was low, Maeng Hyung-gyu achieved an overwhelming 76.8% of the votes among those who participated in the election.

In the 2014 Gwangju Gwangsan by-election, Kwon Eun-hee of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy was elected with 21,545 votes out of 159,974 voters, receiving support from 13.5% of the total electorate. Among the voters who participated, she achieved an overwhelming 60.6% of the votes.

Then, who is the member of the National Assembly who was elected with the least support from the total electorate? The answer comes from the Incheon Gyeyang Eul by-election, where the voter turnout was higher than in Gwangju Gwangsan or Songpa Gap.

On July 26, 2022, during the summer vacation season, the domestic terminal of Gimpo Airport in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, was crowded with travelers. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

The Gyeyang Eul by-election was held on July 28, 2010, and the election was relatively close. Lee Sang-kwon of the Hannara Party won with 14,444 votes (47.6%), defeating Kim Hee-gap of the Democratic Party, who received 12,992 votes (42.8%).

At that time, there were 131,281 voters in Gyeyang Eul. Lee Sang-kwon was elected with the support of 11% of the total electorate. Nine out of ten voters either did not participate or chose another candidate, thus not selecting Lee Sang-kwon.

Low voter turnout cannot be solely blamed on the candidates or voters’ political apathy. It is unreasonable to ask people to adjust their vacation schedules for voting during the peak summer vacation period. The problem lies in scheduling the election to choose a member of the National Assembly in late July itself.

The summer voter turnout drought that terrified the National Election Commission disappeared into history after 2014. Article 35 of the Public Official Election Act stipulates that the voting day for National Assembly by-elections is the first Wednesday of April. When the voting schedule was moved from July to April, the voter turnout for by-elections also rose accordingly.