South Korea votes in local elections; results expected by early morning

South Korea is holding its 9th simultaneous local elections today, with voters heading to the polls to elect 4,227 officials, including 16 metropolitan mayors and governors, as well as local council members and education superintendents. Polling stations opened at 6 a.m. and will close at 6 p.m. Voters are required to bring identification, such as a national ID card, passport, or driver's license.

Each voter will cast up to seven ballots, divided into two stages. First, voters will cast ballots for metropolitan and local government heads and education superintendents. Then, they will vote for district and proportional representatives for local councils. Voters in 14 specific districts, including Busan's Buk-gu and Daegu's Dalseong, where National Assembly by-elections are also being held, will receive an additional ballot, making it eight in total. To ensure a valid vote, only one candidate can be marked per ballot.

This year's elections saw a record-breaking early voting turnout of 23.51%. However, this high participation in early voting does not guarantee a similar turnout for the main election day. In the 8th local elections in 2022, early voting reached a record 20.62%, but the final turnout was only 50.9%. Historically, local election turnouts have exceeded 60% only twice, in 1995 and 2018.

Vote counting is scheduled to commence at 6:20 p.m. following the close of polls. After ballot sorting and verification processes, the initial results are expected to be released around 7:30 p.m. The National Election Commission anticipates that the outlines of winners in districts with significant vote margins will emerge around midnight on June 4, while results for closely contested races are expected between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. on June 4.