Ruling and Opposition Parties Agree Higher Early Voting Rates Benefit Both Sides

Possibility of Breaking the All-Time High Record

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] As voters flocked to early voting for the 20th presidential election, the possibility of breaking the all-time high record increased. Both ruling and opposition parties analyzed the increase in early voting rates and evaluated that their victory was expected. With early voting lines continuing from the first day, there is an analysis that surpassing the early voting rate of 30%, as predicted by the political circles, will not be difficult.

According to political circles on the 4th, both Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, and Yoon Seok-youl, the People Power Party presidential candidate, are conducting campaigns encouraging early voting, and the early voting rate for the 20th presidential election is expected to exceed 30%, breaking the all-time high record. The final early voting rates for the 19th presidential election in 2017 and the 21st National Assembly general election in 2020 were 26.06% and 26.69%, respectively.

As of 11 a.m. on the first day of early voting, the early voting rate was 5.4%, the highest among all nationwide early voting rates at the same time.

However, there is a prevailing view that it is uncertain whether the high early voting rate will affect the overall voter turnout. Political commentator Lee Jong-hoon said, "Early voting has already been established, and due to COVID-19, it is difficult to estimate the overall voter turnout."

The Democratic Party and the People Power Party are encouraging active participation in early voting rather than the main voting day. Woo Sang-ho, the general headquarters chief of the election countermeasures committee, emphasized, "Although the formula that a high early voting rate means we will definitely win has been broken, there is a possibility that the traditional support base (ages 20-50) may not be able to vote on the main day due to studies and work, so their early voting is important." Kang Hoon-sik, head of strategic planning at the Democratic Party’s election committee, also said, "I think it has turned into a battle over who goes to the polling station more," adding, "In the past two weeks, the rising support among women and the 2030 generation in the metropolitan area has expanded to the moderate voters."

The People Power Party is also placing hopes on early voting as the support rate among the 2030 generation has been rising in this election. Moreover, they are actively encouraging early voting, considering that the elderly aged 60 and above, who traditionally strongly support the People Power Party, may not be able to vote on the main day due to the spread of COVID-19. In particular, the traditional conservative base is anxious because there are suspicions of fraudulent voting, and the willingness to participate in early voting is low.

According to a public opinion survey conducted by Hankook Research on 2,000 voters from the 24th to 26th of last month at the request of KBS (95% confidence level, margin of error ±2.2%, for details refer to the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website), the intention to participate in early voting was 45.6% among Democratic Party supporters but only 19.5% among People Power Party supporters.

Because of this, the People Power Party is making early voting encouragement calls containing Yoon’s voice, and Yoon and Lee Jun-seok, the People Power Party leader, are appealing for early voting during their campaigns to rally their supporters. Kwon Young-se, head of the People Power Party election committee, emphasized at the expanded election countermeasures meeting on the day, "Today is the first day of early voting. You have to vote to win. If you vote early, you win bigger."

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