High turnout in early voting for presidential election

People wait in line to cast their ballots at a polling station in Seoul on May 30 2025 Yonhap — People wait in line to cast their ballots at a polling station in Seoul on May 30, 2025. Yonhap

SEOUL, May 30 (AJP) - Early voting for next week's presidential election wrapped up with a high voter turnout of 34.74 percent on Friday, according to the National Election Commission (NEC).

The election watchdog said the high turnout came as about 15.42 million out of 44.39 million eligible voters cast their ballots in advance at around 3,500 polling stations nationwide on Thursday and Friday.

Some 8.69 million voters cast their ballots on the first day of early voting, reaching a record turnout of 19.58 percent, the highest since it was first introduced on a nationwide basis in 2014.

The combined figure for the two days of early voting was the second-highest, about 2.19 percentage points lower than the 36.93 percent recorded in the 2022 presidential election.

Turnout was highest in South Jeolla Province at 56.50 percent, followed by North Jeolla Province (53.01 percent), Gwangju (52.12 percent), and the administrative city of Sejong (41.16 percent). The lowest turnout was seen in Daegu at 25.63 percent.

In Seoul, turnout stood at 34.28 percent, slightly below the nationwide average of 34.74 percent.

Staffers move ballot boxes to a National Election Commission office at a district office in central Seoul on May 30 2025 Yonhap — Staffers move ballot boxes to a National Election Commission office in central Seoul on May 30, 2025. Yonhap

In the past, high turnout in early voting was often considered advantageous to the progressives because younger voters tend to cast their ballots early. But that formula no longer seems to apply as most voters may now be motivated by convenience regardless of their political affiliation.

But the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) interprets the high turnout as suggesting that many voters saw the ballot as a referendum on the former disgraced president's botched martial law debacle late last year. Some DP lawmakers also insist that the lowest turnout in Daegu, the conservatives' main stronghold, would be another indicator that early voting is advantageous to them.

The ruling People Power Party (PPP), however, rejects this claim, arguing that its main supporters, mostly older voters, prefer to vote on the main election day, June 3, as they have doubts about early voting and possible fraud.

Park Sae-jin swatchsjp@ajunews.com

High turnout in early voting for presidential election

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