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| Officials from the Central Election Management Committee prepare for early voting ahead of the June 4 local elections at the Yongsan Culture Center in Seoul, Thursday. The early voting is aimed at those who cannot vote on the actual election day, and will take place for two days beginning today. / Yonhap |
By Chung Min-uck
With the local elections just five days away, polls generally indicate an increase in the number of swing voters.
Political observers say this section of the electorate that is still undecided about who to vote for could determine the outcome of the June 4 elections.
"President Park Geun-hye's popularity fell following the April 16 Sewol ferry tragedy and along with that of the ruling Saenuri Party. But the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) failed to absorb those fall-away voters," said Hwang In-sang, head of P&C Global Networks, a Seoul-based consulting firm, Thursday. "This is the reason behind the increasing number of swing voters."
In a survey conducted by pollster Korea Gallup and released on Wednesday, the proportion of non-partisan voters reached 31 percent, an increase of over 5 percent compared to the same survey conducted before the sinking of the Sewol.
During the same period, the approval ratings of the ruling Saenuri Party dropped 4 to 5 percent and the NPAD's 1 to 2 percent, receiving 39 and 25 percent respectively.
The survey results are regarded as the last prediction of the possible outcomes of the elections because, under the country's election law, no survey taken after Wednesday can be released to the public.
With undecided voters becoming a crucial factor in the upcoming elections, some experts claim they are largely conservative voters given their tendency to hide their political inclinations following the unprecedented maritime tragedy which claimed the lives of almost 300 people.
The government came under fire for its slow and ineffective response to the incident, leading to a drop in the popularity of Saenuri Party candidates in the upcoming elections.
"Considering the approval ratings of the political parties, the swing voters will likely consist of Saenuri Party supporters," said Yoon Hee-woong, chief analyst at the Korea Society Opinion Institute. "But it is not certain whether the number of votes will be large enough to become a game changer and whether they will actually cast their ballots."
Meanwhile, voter turnout, mainly among parents in their 40s, has also emerged as another key factor in determining the outcome of the election because their antipathy toward politics has increased in the wake of the ferry tragedy. It is also possible that they may turn out in large numbers to vote in favor of the opposition bloc.
Another key point of interest will be voter turnout by parents in their 40s who empathize with those who lost their teenage children in the accident.
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