The voting for the April 2 by-election began at 6 a.m. today, with the race for Asan Mayor in South Chungcheong Province intensifying between Oh Sehyun of the Democratic Party and Jeon Mankwon of the People Power Party.
On the last day of the campaign, both candidates mobilized supporters across 15 cities and counties in South Chungcheong, including Cheonan, holding intensive rallies late into the night.
The Democratic Party, while confident in Oh's victory, focused its efforts on encouraging voter turnout, as a low turnout would make it difficult to secure an overwhelming win.
The People Power Party continued its offensive by raising suspicions related to Oh, such as self-development of real estate. With the election taking place amid the impeachment situation, the party concentrated on rallying conservative voters.
However, in the early voting held over two days from the 28th of last month, only 36,831 out of 295,076 eligible voters in Asan cast their ballots, recording a turnout of 12.48%.
Compared to the other four regions holding by-elections for local government heads, Asan had the second lowest early voting turnout after Guro-gu in Seoul, which recorded 8.24%.
Gimcheon in North Gyeongsang recorded 18.34%, Geoje in South Gyeongsang 19.36%, and Damyang in South Jeolla 37.92%.
Last year, the turnout for the Asan National Assembly election was 62.3%. In the 2022 Asan mayoral election, the turnout was 44.4%, which was lower than the South Chungcheong average of 49.8% and the national average of 50.9% at the time.
In the 7th nationwide local elections in 2018, Asan's turnout was 53.21%. In the 6th nationwide local elections in 2014, Asan's turnout was 51.0%.
As of 3 p.m. on the 2nd, the turnout in Asan stood at only 29.4%. Most forecasts predict the final turnout will remain in the high 40% range.
Both parties believe that voter turnout will determine the outcome of the election.
An official from Oh Sehyun's campaign office said, "We expected voter turnout to rise due to the impeachment situation, but early voting turnout was low. In recent days, we focused our campaign on encouraging people to vote."
The official added, "While we believe Oh is ahead in terms of momentum, political structure, and candidate appeal, a low turnout could make it a tough fight. This election is being held before the impeachment verdict, and since it is due to the election crime of the previous mayor from the People Power Party, we urge all citizens to vote and judge the People Power Party, which is complicit in the rebellion."
An official from Jeon Mankwon's campaign office said, "The idea that higher turnout favors the Democratic Party is just their opinion. Citizens are demanding answers from Oh Sehyun regarding unresolved suspicions, such as the Punggi Station self-development and nepotism in hiring his brother-in-law. If conservatives unite and go to the polls, Jeon will win," the official predicted.
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