[Election 2017] Early voting turnout strong

Koreans traveling overseas queue up to cast their vote at a polling station installed in Incheon International Airport, Thursday, the first day of two-day early voting for the May 9 presidential election. Around 4.97 million people, or 11.7 percent of the electorate, voted, more than double the number recorded in last year's general election, according to the National Election Commission. / Korea Times photo by Koh Young-kwon

Nearly 5 million cast ballot, marking 11.7% turnout rate

By Yi Whan-woo

More than 4.97 million people had cast their ballots nationwide on the first day of two-day early voting for the May 9 presidential election, Thursday.

With more people expected to follow today, the overall turnout rate is likely to be a record-high since early voting was introduced in 2014, according to the National Election Commission (NEC).

The one-day turnout rate marked 11.7 percent of the total electorate, more than twice that of the 2016 general election and the 2014 local elections.

The NEC expects the figure to climb to over 20 percent today. It predicts that the total turnout rate may surge to more than 80 percent on May 9.

The higher rate reflects voters' strong enthusiasm to pick the "right" leader after former President Park Geun-hye's removal from power amid a massive corruption scandal, according to analysts.

By region, South Jeolla Province had the highest turnout at 16.76 percent, followed by Sejong with 15.87 percent, Gwangju with 15.66 percent and North Jeolla Province with 15.06 percent. Daegu had the lowest rate at 9.67 percent.

Among voters at 3,507 polling stations across the country were Korean tourists travelling internationally and domestically, college students, soldiers serving inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and conscripts at military boot camps.

Escorted by police officers, criminal suspects temporarily detained at police stations were also allowed to visit the nearest polling station to vote.

The bereaved family members of the nine victims still missing from the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster voted in Mokpo, South Jeolla Province, where the wreck of the ferry has been kept for a search for their bodies.

Several camp officials and legislators from the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), the Liberty Korea Party (LKP), the People's Party, the Bareun Party and the Justice Party joined the early voting in a bid to woo supporters for their respective candidates.

This is the first early voting in presidential election history. The 42.47 million eligible voters aged 19 or older can cast a ballot at any polling station if they have a valid identification card on them.

Reasons to vote

2017-05-04 17:10 | Editorial

Foul-mouth - a common trait of strong leaders?

2017-05-04 14:03 | Law & Crime

Campaigns with no humor

2017-05-04 17:07

Next president, not 19th but 12th!

2017-05-04 17:11 | Thoughts of the Times

Candidates head into final stretch

2017-05-04 18:00 | Politics

Candidates' children hit campaign trail

2017-05-04 17:18 | Politics

Early voters crowd polling stations

2017-05-04 16:51 | Law & Crime

Defection moves: boon for Yoo, bane for Hong

2017-05-04 16:50 | Politics

One more lawmaker decides to stay in Bareun Party

2017-05-04 15:59 | Politics

The booths are open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

People vote despite long holiday

The presidential election next week coincided with the so-called "Golden holidays," during which many workers had already planned to take vacations from April 29 until May 9. Election day is designated as a holiday in Korea.

Two male voters in their 30s ― Kim Won-jae and Jeon Seong-min ― said they setup a tent and stayed overnight in front of a polling station near their homes in Sinsa-dong, Seoul.

"We wanted to be the first ones in the nation to vote today. We also thought it was worth staying overnight considering the future of Korea for the next five years, which can reshape people's daily lives," Kim said.

At Incheon International Airport, voters planning to travel abroad were queued up at a polling station on the third floor of the building.

They mostly waited for over 30 minutes before casting their ballots, according to election officials. Some of them even had to give up voting as they were late for their planes.

"I arrived at the airport about an hour earlier than I usually do because I felt the presidential election is far more significant this time than in the past and therefore wanted to vote before boarding the plane," said Kim Jong-goo, 54, a businessman on a trip to China.

A voter from Incheon was seen at a polling station in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, on his way to Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, for a picnic with friends.

In Tongilchon, a small village inside the DMZ near Paju, Gyeonggi Province, groups of border guards on military trucks arrived at a polling station set up at a community center at 8 a.m. Some of them were in full uniform.

Citing military ethics on political neutrality, an officer asked his soldiers to refrain from mentioning specific candidates.

Conscripts and their drill instructors at the country's largest Army training camp in Nonsan, South Chungcheong Province, were spotted at a culture and sports center where a polling station was set up.

"We've coordinated the time for voting by conscripts with Army officials to prevent voters from all coming at the same time," an official at the NEC's provincial office said.

Before taking a vote in Mokpo, the bereaved family members of the Sewol shipwreck victims read a letter pleading for the new president to make his or her best efforts in finding the bodies of the nine passengers who are still unaccounted for.

"We want the next government to put priority on people's lives and safety and recovering the bodies of those who are still missing," they said.