About 3,500 polling stations have been set up including at major railway stations and airports across the country. Voting hours are from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Voters with valid ID cards can cast their ballot at any polling station, regardless of their registered addresses.
They can find information about the nearest polling locations on the website of election watchdog National Election Commission (NEC) as well as through several mobile apps. The NEC will also provide hourly updates on voter turnout to enhance transparency and dispel any suspicions of fraud or vote rigging.
Meanwhile, campaigners are making all-out efforts to get as much support as possible in the early voting period, encouraging people to vote early.
According to a party spokesperson, Kim Moon-soo, the presidential candidate of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), plans to vote in Gyeyang, Incheon on the first day of early voting. Kim reportedly chose the district as a show of determination to win the race, as it is the constituency of his rival Lee Jae-myung of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP). Kim will then continue his campaign in nearby areas including Ansan, Anyang, and Uiwang in Gyeonggi Province, hoping to turn the race around.
Lee, who remains far ahead in most polls, is also expected to cast his early vote in Seoul on the same day.
In the latest poll of about 1,000 voters conducted by pollster Realmeter earlier this week and released on Wednesday, Lee garnered 49.2 percent of support, followed by Kim with 36.8 percent and Lee Jun-seok of the minor centrist Reform Party (RP) with 10.3 percent.
With early voting just hours away, the slim chance of the PPP and the RP teaming up seems all but vanished. Even if Kim eventually persuades the younger Lee, who adamantly refuses to field a single conservative candidate, to unite, it is unlikely they would overtake the frontrunner.
No more opinion polls can be released until South Koreans cast their ballots on June 3, leaving voters in the dark about any last-minute developments or potential changes.
The snap election comes after the Constitutional Court of Korea's ruling early last month to impeach disgraced former President Yoon Suk Yeol over his botched martial law debacle late last year.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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