4.7 By-elections 1 PM Voter Turnout 38.3%... "5.2%p Lower Than Local Elections"

On the 7th, when the April 7 by-elections were held, citizens are voting at the 3rd polling station in Junggye-bon-dong, Nowon-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 by-elections and re-elections was 38.3% as of 1 p.m.

Voting, which began at 6 a.m. that day, saw 4,611,564 participants out of a total of 12,161,624 eligible voters. From 1 p.m., the early voting rates from the 2nd and 3rd were also reflected in the turnout rate.

This turnout rate is 11.4 percentage points lower compared to the 49.7% turnout during last year's 21st general election. It is also 5.2 percentage points lower than the 43.5% turnout in the 2018 local elections. However, unlike previous general or local elections, this election was held on a weekday rather than a holiday and ran 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 40.6% and 35.5%, respectively. In Seoul, 3,416,735 voters cast their ballots, while in Busan, 1,043,035 voters participated.

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