By Lee Kyung-min
More than 42.4 million people are eligible to vote in the upcoming presidential election, with those aged 60 and older accounting for almost a quarter of the total, the government said Monday.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, out of 51,714,900 citizens, the number of eligible voters aged 19 and older is 42,479,710, up nearly 5 percent or 1.971,868 from the 2012 presidential election.
The number includes overseas voters and those who are eligible to cast absentee ballots. Almost a quarter, or 24.4 percent of eligible voters, is aged 60 or older.
The total number of the oldest age bracket is 10,362,877, up 3.6 percent from the previous presidential election.
Those in their 40s account for the second largest age group with their number tallied at 8,736,420 (20.6 percent), followed by those in their 50s with 8,477,808 (19.9 percent), those in their 30s with 7,473,957 (17.6 percent) and those in their 20s, 6,766,283 (15.9 percent).
By gender, 21,437,021 are women and 21,042,689 are men.
Region-wise, Gyeonggi Province topped the list with 10,262,309 voters, followed by Seoul (8,382,999) and Busan (2,950,224).
Meanwhile, the National Election Commission (NEC) said early voting is possible for those who are unable to vote on May 9.
For the two-day early voting from Thursday to Friday, designated polling stations nationwide will open between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Information on such stations is available at the NEC website. Ballots cast during the early voting period will be counted on May 9.
On election day, the polling stations will stay open until 8 p.m. due to by-elections in some areas.
Meanwhile, according to the revised Election Law, on election day, voters will be allowed to share photos taken near polling stations online.
Earlier, making signs using their hands to give a thumbs up or V signs was banned as it could imply which candidate a person voted for.