'Early Voting' Decided the Close Race, Now It's 'First Round Voting'

On the first day of early voting for the 21st National Assembly election on the 10th, citizens are casting their precious votes at the Namyeong-dong early voting station set up at Seoul Station. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporters Kang Nahum and Won Dara] '11,742,677.'

This is the number of voters who participated in 'early voting' in the 21st general election. Although it accounts for 26.7% of all eligible voters, it represents 40% of the actual votes cast by about 29 million participants. It is safe to say that the meaning of 'early' has expanded to the concept of a 'first round of voting.'

Early voting holds great significance in terms of increasing overall voter turnout. While some argue that it merely disperses the voting population, voter turnout in nationwide elections has steadily increased since early voting was first introduced in 2013. Excluding presidential elections, the turnout rate was 56.8% in the 2014 local elections, rising to 58% in the general election held two years later. In the 2018 local elections, turnout surpassed 60% at 60.2%, and in this general election, it rose to 66.2%.

Another noteworthy aspect is the tendency of voters who participate in early voting. Political circles analyze that the higher the early voting rate, the more it favors the progressive camp, which has a strong and active voter base. In this election as well, many Democratic Party candidates who led in early voting demonstrated strong performance in the final count and secured their certificates of election.

According to the vote count results by precinct provided by the National Election Commission, early voting was decisive in the fiercely contested Yeongnam region, specifically in Yangsan, Gyeongnam. Democratic Party winner Kim Doo-kwan gained 17,991 votes in early voting alone, leading the United Future Party candidate Na Dong-yeon by 4,990 votes, and ultimately won by a margin of 1,523 votes. In Yeonsu-eul, Incheon, Democratic Party winner Jeong Il-young widened the gap by 6,187 votes in early voting, enabling him to defeat United Future Party candidate Min Kyung-wook by a final margin of 2,893 votes.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

As early voting boxes were opened near the end of the counting process, cases of results being overturned became frequent, leading to controversies over early voting manipulation. Some in the conservative camp suspect that there was fraud in the early voting count, which was conducted by recount, because United Future Party candidates led in the main vote but lost significantly in early voting.

As the proportion and influence of early voting grow, analyses suggest the need for election strategies and keyword strategies targeting it. The case of Kim Nam-guk, a Democratic Party winner in Danwon, Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, strongly supports this analysis. Kim, who faced backlash due to a controversy over misogyny just before the main vote, narrowly defeated United Future Party candidate Park Soon-ja by 3,653 votes. Kim won early voting by 5,721 votes, gaining 17,215 votes to Park’s 11,494. It is speculated that if the misogyny controversy had emerged before early voting, the result might have been reversed.

Um Kyung-young, director of the Era Spirit Research Institute, said, "One of the biggest differences in election strategies between the two major parties was their attitude toward early voting. The Democratic Party actively encouraged early voting, while the United Future Party focused on the main vote." He added, "Looking at the election results, early voting rates were high in key strongholds, and most of these turned out to be Democratic Party victories. Based on these results, I think a separate election countermeasure is necessary."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.