Local Election 4 PM Voter Turnout at 45.4%... "Final Turnout Expected to Slightly Exceed 50%" (Update)

On the 1st, the day of the 8th nationwide local elections, voters are casting their precious votes at the 5th polling station of Bukgajwa 2-dong, set up at the coffee shop SANMEAG in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. Photo by Mo Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] As of 4 PM on the 1st, the voter turnout for the 8th nationwide simultaneous local elections was recorded at 45.4%. The final turnout is expected to slightly exceed 50%.

The National Election Commission announced the local election turnout as of 4 PM on this day. Voting began at 6 AM nationwide, and out of a total of 44,303,449 eligible voters, 20,115,410 participated, surpassing 20 million voters.

This local election turnout is the lowest since the 5th local elections when hourly turnout data began to be collected.

By election cycle, the turnout at the same time in the 7th local elections in 2018 (53.2%) was 7.8 percentage points higher, the 6th local elections in 2014 (49.1%) was 3.7 percentage points higher, and the 5th local elections in 2010 (46.0%) was 0.6 percentage points higher.

The Election Commission stated, "The final turnout for this local election is expected to slightly exceed 50%," and urged, "Since the turnout is lower than the previous local elections, please make sure to participate in voting during the remaining time."

The region with the highest current turnout is Jeonnam (54.1%), followed by Gangwon (53.1%), Jeju (48.2%), Gyeongbuk (48.1%), and Gyeongnam (47.7%).

The lowest turnout was recorded in Gwangju at 33.6%, followed by Daegu (37.8%), Busan (43.4%), and Daejeon (44.3%). The turnout rates in the Seoul metropolitan area were Seoul 46.8%, Gyeonggi 44.7%, and Incheon 43.7%.

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