4.7 By-Election 9 AM Voter Turnout 6.2%... High Turnout in Gangnam 3 Districts (Comprehensive)

On the 7th, when the April 7 by-elections were held, citizens exercised their precious votes at the 3rd polling station in Hapjeong-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] The National Election Commission announced on the 7th that the voter turnout for the April 7 by-elections and re-elections was 6.2% as of 9 a.m.

Since voting began at 6 a.m. that day, 759,690 out of a total of 12,161,624 eligible voters participated.

The voter turnout on this day was 1.8 percentage points lower than the 8% turnout during last year's 21st general election. It was also 1.5 percentage points lower than the 7.7% turnout during the 2018 local elections. The voter turnout for the highly watched Seoul mayoral and Busan mayoral elections was recorded at 6.6% and 5.7%, respectively. In Seoul, 559,342 voters cast their ballots, while in Busan, 168,257 voters participated.

Notably, voter turnout was high in Seoul’s Seocho-gu (8%), Gangnam-gu (7.9%), and Songpa-gu (7.3%), which are known for their strong conservative leanings. In contrast, turnout was low in Eunpyeong-gu (5.9%), Gwanak-gu (5.9%), and Gangbuk-gu (5.5%).

The current turnout does not include the early voting rate of 20.54% conducted over 2-3 days. Early voting will be officially combined with the turnout along with absentee voting at 1 p.m.

The by-elections and re-elections held on this weekday allow voting from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

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