South Korea sees record voter turnout by 4 p.m. in local elections

Voter turnout for South Korea's local elections and parliamentary by-elections reached a record high, with 54.7% of eligible voters casting their ballots by 4 p.m. on June 3. This figure significantly exceeds the 45.4% turnout recorded at the same time during the 2022 local elections and has already surpassed the final turnout of 50.9% from that election.

The current turnout marks the highest recorded for local elections at this time point since the tracking of hourly turnout began in 1998. The high participation rate suggests strong public engagement in the current electoral cycle.

Geographically, Jeollanam-do province led the nation with the highest turnout at 61.9%. This was followed by Gangwon province at 59.7%, and Jeollabuk-do and Gyeongsangnam-do provinces, both at 58.3%. Initially, Daegu and Gyeongsangbuk-do were among the top performers, but the inclusion of early voting data by 1 p.m. shifted the rankings, benefiting regions with higher early voting rates like Jeollanam-do and Jeollabuk-do.

Conversely, Gwangju reported the lowest turnout at 49.5%, followed by Jeju Island at 51.7% and Gyeonggi Province at 51.9%. Seoul recorded a turnout of 56.0%, and Busan 55.1%. A total of 24,428,042 voters had participated by 4 p.m. Voting is scheduled to conclude at 6 p.m. across 14,288 polling stations nationwide.