4.7 By-Election 11 AM Voter Turnout 12.2%... "3.5%p Lower Than Local Elections"

Seoul Mayor 12.7%
Busan Mayor 11.6%

On the 7th, when the April 7 by-election was held, citizens are voting at the 3rd polling station in Junggye-bon-dong, Nowon-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy reporters Hyunju Lee and Juseok Naju] The National Election Commission announced on the 7th that the voter turnout for the by-elections and re-elections was 12.2% as of 11 a.m.

Since voting began at 6 a.m. that day, 1,482,837 out of a total of 12,161,624 eligible voters participated.

This turnout rate is 3.5 percentage points lower than the 15.7% turnout during last year's 21st general election. It is also 3.1 percentage points lower than the 11.5% turnout during the 2018 local elections. However, unlike previous general or local elections, this election was held on a weekday rather than a holiday and proceeded from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., making it difficult to simply compare turnout trends with previous elections that ended at 6 p.m.

The voter turnout rates for the highly watched Seoul mayoral and Busan mayoral elections were recorded at 12.7% and 11.6%, respectively. In Seoul, 1,073,415 voters cast their ballots, while in Busan, 341,159 voters participated.

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

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