New president to emerge late night on Tuesday

An official holds up a ballot stamp at a polling station in Yongsan Seoul on June 2 2025 just a day ahead of the presidential election Yonhap — An official holds up a ballot stamp at a polling station in Yongsan, Seoul on June 2, 2025, just a day ahead of the presidential election. Yonhap

SEOUL, June 2 (AJP) - Voting for the June 3 presidential election begins at 6 a.m. on Tuesday at some 14,300 polling stations nationwide. As ballot counting begins at 8 p.m., the country's new president is not expected to emerge until around 11 p.m. or midnight.

As the snap election follows the premature ouster of former disgraced President Yoon Suk Yeol over his botched martial law debacle late last year, polling hours have been extended by two hours from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., so "the winner will be decided quite late," said an official at the National Election Commission on Monday.

But variables remain, depending on the final turnout, which could delay procedures at some 250 ballot-counting sites with around 70,000 personnel, and on how tight the race is.

The election watchdog also added that it will take around eight hours for all ballots to be counted, meaning the exact number of votes will be known in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Results of exit polls from the country's three major terrestrial broadcasters - KBS, MBC, and SBS - based on responses from over 100,000 voters who cast their ballots on election day are expected to be available soon after the polls close.

With two-day early voting last week wrapping up with a high turnout of 34.74 percent, attention now turns to how this will affect the final turnout. In the 2022 presidential election, the early voting turnout hit a record 36.93 percent, but the final turnout stood at 77.1 percent, not much different from the previous elections.

One of the key factors will depend on voter turnout in the southern regions including the conservatives' main stronghold of Daegu, which showed the lowest turnout last Thursday and Friday, probably due to doubts about early voting and concerns over possible fraud, as well as in the Seoul metropolitan area and Chungcheong provinces, both of which also fell below the national average in early turnout.

Younger voters pose with their customized ballot slips at a polling station in southern Seoul on May 29, 2025, just days ahead of the presidential election. Yonhap

Unlike early voting, voters are only allowed to cast their ballots at designated polling stations based on their registered addresses on the main voting day and must present a valid ID.

Taking pictures of ballots inside election booths, as well as posting them on social media, is also prohibited. Violators can face up to two years in prison or fines of up to 400 million won (US$2,900).

Among younger voters, taking selfies or sharing posts with customized ballot slips featuring their favorite idols or cartoon characters after voting has become the latest fad.

Park Sae-jin swatchsjp@ajunews.com

New president to emerge late night on Tuesday

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