Every vote can improve neighborhood life

“People barely answer polling calls these days. Candidates are really struggling because of it.” That was the sentiment Kang Jun-hyun, spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Korea election campaign committee, said he has been hearing most often on the campaign trail.

With candidates contesting more than 2,300 districts in the June 3 local elections and parliamentary by-elections, politicians across the country are finding it increasingly difficult to read the political landscape as more voters ignore opinion surveys.

The growing reluctance to participate in polls likely reflects the pressures of everyday life. Many working people simply do not have the time during business hours to spend several minutes answering survey questions. The website of South Korea’s National Election Survey Deliberation Commission listed 33 polls conducted nationwide on Wednesday alone. Another 41 were registered the previous day. Those figures do not include private polls commissioned unofficially by political parties and campaign organizations, suggesting the actual number of surveys conducted each day is significantly higher.

Publicly released polls also reveal how difficult it has become to secure reliable responses, particularly in smaller local races. Many surveys have recorded response rates in the single digits or relied on samples of fewer than 1,000 respondents. Even a nationwide poll conducted by Gallup Korea from May 12 to 14, and released May 15, posted a response rate of just 12.5%. Of the 8,101 people contacted, only 1,011 completed the survey.

As fatigue with polling deepens, politically engaged voters and highly committed supporters inevitably make up a larger share of respondents. Pollsters attempt to compensate by weighting factors such as gender, age and party affiliation when balanced samples cannot be fully secured. Even so, surveys conducted in the same region during similar periods often produce noticeably different results.

“One of the biggest challenges now is the sheer volume of polling,” said a candidate running in a closely watched parliamentary by-election race. “People simply stop answering their phones, making it much harder for polling firms to gather enough reliable samples.”

With less than two weeks remaining before the elections, both major parties are closely watching whether voters who tend to avoid surveys and show limited political interest will ultimately head to the polls.

The People Power Party believes stronger turnout among younger men in their 20s, older voters and residents of the Yeongnam region would work in its favor. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party of Korea is hoping for high participation among its traditional support base, including voters in their 40s and 50s and people originally from the Honam region who now live elsewhere.

If public disengagement from polling ultimately leads to lower turnout, the effects could extend far beyond campaign strategy. Local government leaders, council members and education superintendents make decisions that directly affect daily life, from installing bus stops and maintaining neighborhood walking trails to determining elementary school assignments.

Voter turnout reached a high of 68.4% in South Korea’s first nationwide local elections in 1995. Since then, turnout has mostly hovered in the 50% range. It climbed to 60.2% in 2018 before falling back to 50.9% in 2022.

Many voters may continue ignoring the endless stream of polling calls. But if they still make the effort to cast their ballots, public opinion on how to improve local communities may be reflected far more meaningfully where it matters most: at the ballot box.