The final early voting turnout for the 21st presidential election has been recorded at 34.74%. This marks the second-highest turnout in history for elections that have implemented early voting, following the 20th presidential election in 2022.
According to the National Election Commission, as of 6 p.m. on May 30, the last day of early voting for the June 3 presidential election, a cumulative total of 15,423,607 voters out of 44,391,871 eligible voters had cast their ballots.
This early voting turnout is 3.46 percentage points higher than last year’s National Assembly election (31.28%), but 2.19 percentage points lower than the 20th presidential election (36.93%).
The first day of early voting for this presidential election recorded a turnout of 19.58%, closing at an all-time high. The high turnout continued until the morning of the second day.
By 10 a.m., the number of early voters surpassed 10 million in record time, but the pace slowed in the afternoon, failing to set a new all-time high record.
Recent final early voting turnouts include: 11.49% (4,744,241 voters) for the 2014 local elections, 12.19% (5,131,721 voters) for the 2016 National Assembly election, 26.06% (11,072,310 voters) for the 2017 presidential election, and 20.14% (8,640,897 voters) for the 2018 local elections. Additionally, 26.69% (11,742,677 voters) for the 2020 National Assembly election, 36.93% (16,323,602 voters) for the 2022 presidential election, 20.62% (9,133,522 voters) for the 2022 local elections, and 31.28% (13,849,043 voters) for the 2024 National Assembly election.
By region, South Jeolla Province recorded the highest turnout at 56.50%, followed by North Jeolla Province at 53.01% and Gwangju at 52.12%. Daegu recorded the lowest national turnout at 25.63%.
The June 3 early presidential election, which began with former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s declaration of martial law, raised concerns about low voter turnout due to early voting taking place on weekdays, unlike in previous years. However, with the final early voting turnout recording the second-highest in history, interest is growing in the final turnout when combined with the main voting day results.
Looking at the voter turnout rates in presidential elections held since the introduction of the direct election system, it has remained below 80% for 25 years since the 15th presidential election in 1997, when it recorded 80.7%. The voter turnout rate in the 20th presidential election, which was the most competitive in history, was 77.1%.
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