Early voting to become tool to boost turnout

Candidates running in the April 24 by-election in the Nowon District, Seoul, appeal to the voters for support during their campaigning on the last weekend before the polling day, Sunday. From left are independent Ahn Cheol-soo; the ruling Saenuri Party’s Huh Joon-young and the Progressive Justice Party’s Kim Ji-sun. Yonhap

By Jun Ji-hye

Early voting for the April 24 by-elections held Friday and Saturday provided clues for raising voter turnout for other elections, drawing larger-than-expected participation.

The early voting closed with an average voting rate of 6.93 percent _ 8.38 percent in Nowon in Seoul, 5.93 percent in Yeongdo in Busan and 5.62 percent in Buyeo-Cheongyang in South Chungcheong Province _ according to the National Election Commission.

The numbers are higher than previous absentee voting of 1.7 percent and 2.2 percent in last year’s general and the presidential elections, respectively.

Early voting differs from absentee voting as voters who expect to be busy or away on an election day do not need to register in advance to cast their ballots in the designated voting period. Under the related law, the new type of vote is held five days before the election over two days.

Analysts say the new voting system seemed to appeal to voters.

“It can be given a positive evaluation as a measure to improve the electoral system amid falling turnout,” said Bae Jong-chan, director of the department of social research at Research & Research.

Bae explained, in various studies, early voting appears to contribute to boosting the turnout as it is convenient for voters.

“Unlike absentee voting, pre-registration is not necessary in early voting. In particular, it offers opportunities for those who have not been able to vote due to their work hours,” Bae said.

Some say, given that it contributes to improving the turnout, early voting could be an alternative to calls for expanding voting hours that political parties have constantly raised.

However, it could have shortcomings as well, Bae said.

“There is the possibility that the public’s attention could be divided as the polling day is de facto expanded to three days,” he said.

He pointed out the convenience of early voting can be effective in the short run, but more importantly, the government has to mull ways to ultimately boost voters’ desire to vote.

Meanwhile, with just two days to go before the polling day, candidates are devoting all their energy to secure victory.

So far, various opinion polls show that independent Ahn Cheol-soo in Nowon, and the Saenuri Party’s Kim Moo-sung and Lee Wan-koo in Yeongdo and Buyeo-Cheongyang are leading their respective races.

Mindful of the dynamics of the election, the ruling party has concentrated on supporting Huh Joon-young, its candidate in Nowon, with powerful figures from within the party including Reps. Chung Mong-joon and Rhee In-je joining in stumping.

Along with early voting, how high the turnout will be on Wednesday is attracting attention as there is increasing public interest on big name candidates such as Ahn and Kim, and it is the first election since President Park Geun-hye was inaugurated.

Some analysts expect the turnout could reach 50 percent. Since 2000, the average voting rate in by-elections has been 33.8 percent.