SEOUL, June 03 (AJP) - Over 21.8 million people cast their ballots in South Korea's ninth nationwide local elections by 2:00 p.m. on election day. This pushed overall voter turnout to 48.9 percent, signaling potentially historic final participation levels.
The mid-afternoon figure is 8.2 percentage points higher than the turnout recorded at the same time during the previous local elections four years ago. It also sits 2.1 percentage points above the 2018 elections, suggesting the final tally could exceed that year's 60.2 percent total. Surpassing the 60 percent threshold is rare, having happened only twice before in South Korean local election history.
The National Election Commission reported that 21,832,984 of the country's 44,649,908 eligible voters had participated by the 2:00 p.m. count. This total includes mail-in votes and ballots from early voting held on May 29 and 30, which saw a 23.51 percent turnout.
Jeonnam recorded the highest regional turnout at 58.0 percent, followed by Gangwon at 54.5 percent and Jeonbuk at 54.2 percent. The lowest participation was in Gwangju at 45.3 percent, trailing Gyeonggi at 46.0 percent and Incheon at 46.3 percent. Voter turnout in the capital city of Seoul stood at 49.4 percent.
Polls remain open until 6 p.m., with voters required to present identification at their registered local precincts. The election commission calculates these hourly updates using data gathered from 256 district and municipal offices. The highest final turnout for a South Korean local election remains 68.4 percent, recorded during the first nationwide vote in 1995.
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