The overseas voter turnout for the 21st presidential election reached 79.5%, marking the highest level ever recorded.
According to provisional figures released by the National Election Commission on May 26, out of 1,974,375 eligible overseas voters, 258,254 registered on the electoral roll, and among them, 205,268 actually participated in the voting.
By region, Asia had the highest number of voters at 102,644, followed by the Americas with 56,779, Europe with 37,470, the Middle East with 5,902, and Africa with 2,473.
This represents the highest participation rate for both presidential and general elections since the overseas voting system was introduced in 2012. In previous presidential elections, the overseas voter turnout was 71.1% in the 18th, 75.3% in the 19th, and 71.6% in the 20th elections. Last year’s general election recorded a turnout of 62.8%, which was the highest at the time.
This overseas voting took place from May 20 to May 25 (local time) at 223 polling stations in 118 countries around the world.
The ballots cast overseas are transported to Korea via diplomatic pouches. Upon arrival at Incheon International Airport, the ballot boxes are checked in the presence of observers dispatched by the negotiation groups of both ruling and opposition parties, and then sent by registered mail to the respective local election commissions.
The counting of votes is scheduled to take place simultaneously with domestic voting on June 3, the election day. However, in cases where it is impossible to send ballot papers due to unavoidable circumstances such as natural disasters or war, the ballots may be counted directly at the respective diplomatic missions.
Meanwhile, overseas voters who have returned to Korea without participating in overseas voting can vote domestically if they report to the local election commission in their place of residence before election day.
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