Overseas voting has record high turnout

By Kim Rahn

The early voting for overseas voters for the May 9 presidential election closed Sunday, with the highest ever turnout.

According to the National Election Commission (NEC), Monday, the overseas voting had a record high turnout since the voting system was first introduced in 2012 at 75.3 percent, higher than the 71.1 percent for the presidential election that year, reflecting and overseas Koreans’ high interest in the election following the presidential corruption scandal.

The voting was for Korean nationals staying overseas, including those with permanent residency in other countries and those temporarily out of Korea for study, work or travel.

During the six-day voting held at 204 polling stations in 116 countries, 294,633 people registered to cast their ballots, and 221,981 actually participated.

In Beijing, the turnout was 82 percent, as 8,363 among 10,192 people who had registered to vote at the Korean Embassy there took part in the vote. It was higher than the 68.3 percent for the previous presidential election in 2012, and double the figure for last year’s general election of 41 percent.

“Overseas voters’ interest in the election has grown because this time the poll is being held after the politically-sensitive scandal,” an NEC official said. “The high turnout is also partially attributable to an easier registration process because voters could apply for voting easily through the internet.”

In Sydney and Brisbane in Australia, the turnout was 84.2 percent, the highest ever. The number of voters also rose to 7,397 from 2,185 in 2012’s presidential election. “Some voters came to the Sydney polling station from Perth after flying for five hours,” the official said.

More than 48,000 people cast their ballots in the United States, with a 71.1 percent turnout. The turnout is similar to that of the 2012 presidential election, 71.6 percent, and far higher than that for the general election last year, 36.8 percent.

The ballots will be sent to Korea via diplomatic pouches and will be counted on election day, May 9.

Korea held the first overseas voting for the general election in 2012. The second was for the presidential election the same year, the third was for the general election in 2016, and this was the fourth.

In the previous presidential election, 222,398 registered to vote and 148,225 actually voted.