Around 59.3 percent of South Korean voters had cast their ballots in Wednesday’s parliamentary elections as of 3 p.m., the election watchdog said.
The National Election Commission (NEC) said some 26.3 million out of an eligible 44.28 million voters had cast their ballots nine hours after the polls opened at polling stations nationwide in crucial elections that are seen as a referendum on President Yoon Suk Yeol.
The turnout was 2.8 percentage points higher than at the same time in the previous parliamentary elections in 2020.
The latest tally included part of the record 31.28 percent turnout for last week’s two-day early voting, as well as votes by overseas South Korean nationals and those aboard ships, the NEC said.
Voting is set to end at 6 p.m.
“There is a high possibility that the final turnout could be higher than four years earlier,” an NEC official said.
The turnout for the parliamentary elections in 2020 stood at 66.2 percent.
As of 3 p.m., South Jeolla Province had the highest voter turnout a
t 63.7 percent, followed by the central city of Sejong at 62.7 percent and North Jeolla Province and the southwestern city of Gwangju both at 61.4 percent.
The southern resort island of Jeju had the lowest turnout at 55.3 percent. The turnout in Seoul stood at 60.6 percent.
Source: Yonhap News Agency