Highest voter turnout in early voting recorded

Staffs are busy at situation room in the Governmnet Complex in Seoul as they monitor early voting results. / Yonhap

By Ko Dong-hwan

Korea recorded its highest voter turnout in early voting of 12.2 percent for the April 13 general elections, the National Election Commission (NEC) reported Saturday.

During the two-day early voting period from Friday to Saturday, 5.13 million eligible voters out of the 42.1 million cast their ballots at 3,511 polling stations nationwide.

The early voting system was first adopted for the by-elections in 2013. The total turnout of early voting for the local elections in June 2014 was 4.75 percent.

The high rate of participation in the early voting period in this election cycle will likely bear significant influence on the upcoming elections, as many voters have yet to choose a candidate in their electorates. A recent poll by Gallup Korea showed that about a quarter of the respondents were unsure which candidate or party they will vote for.

Eligible voters who would not have been able to vote on election day due to personal reasons were the people who mostly showed up at the polls during the early voting period to cast their ballots.