Last NBS Poll Before Presidential Election 'Unpredictable'... "Lee and Yoon Both at 40%"

In Election Outlook, Yoon Seok-yeol 43%, Lee Jae-myung 40%

(From right) Lee Jae-myung, presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea; Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People Party; Yoon Seok-youl, presidential candidate of the People Power Party; Sim Sang-jung, presidential candidate of the Justice Party
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] In the last nationwide index survey (NBS) conducted before the presidential election, Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Yoon Seok-youl, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, recorded a tie.

The NBS, jointly conducted and announced by Embrain Public, K-stat Research, Korea Research, and Hankook Research from the 28th of last month to the 2nd of this month over three days, surveyed 2,013 men and women nationwide aged 18 and over, with both candidates Lee and Yoon each recording 40%.

This poll differed from the conventional regular surveys by re-asking respondents who answered "Don't know" or "Cannot say" about their preferred candidate, so trend comparisons with previous polls were not made. However, in the previous poll (4th week of February), which did not use the re-questioning method, Yoon recorded 39% and Lee recorded 37%. In that poll, Lee's support rose by 6 percentage points compared to the previous week's survey (3rd week of February), while Yoon's support fell by 1 percentage point.

Additionally, this poll's results do not reflect the withdrawal of Ahn Cheol-soo, the leader of the People’s Party, from the race. Ahn recorded 9% in this survey. Sim Sang-jung, the presidential candidate of the Justice Party, recorded 2%.

In the survey asking about election prospects regardless of support, Lee recorded 40%, and Yoon recorded 43%. Lee's figure rose by 3 percentage points compared to the previous survey (4th week of February), while Yoon's fell by 5 percentage points.

Regarding the timing of voting, among respondents who said they would vote, 34% said they would vote early, and 62% said they would vote on election day. Among respondents who expressed support for Lee, 48% said they would vote early, and 49% said they would vote on election day. Among respondents supporting Yoon, 23% said they would vote early, and 74% said they would vote on election day.

For detailed survey outlines and results, please refer to the website of the Central Election Survey Deliberation Commission.

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