Early voting for April general elections eight days away

Korea’s early voting for the upcoming 22nd general elections, which will be held next Friday and Saturday, is only eight days away. In many previous elections, including the 21st general elections in 2020 and the presidential and local elections in 2022, early voters accounted for more than 40% of the final voter turnout. The ruling and opposition parties, believing that early voting will account for at least half of participating voters, are making all-out efforts to win votes. “Considering the recent impact of early voting, the general election is eight days away, in a sense,” said a source in the political sector.

According to the National Election Commission on Wednesday, the early voting rate for the previous general elections was 26.7%, which represented 40.3% of the total final voting rate (66.2%). The recent rise in early voting rates was impacted by political parties’ promotion of early voting, which voters are accustomed to. 47.8% of all voters participated in early voting in the 2022 presidential election, with 40.5% of voters choosing to vote early in the local elections in the same year.

The ruling People Power Party plans to focus on dispelling distrust of early voting among conservative supporters, highlighting President Yoon Seok-yeol’s win despite an all-time high early voting rate, breaking the common belief that high early vote turnout makes it more advantageous for the democratic party. “The election outcome depends on the turnout of conservative voters in the early voting stage. Supporters for the ruling party should unite, as supporters for the opposition party do, to gain and drive momentum throughout the elections,” said a key official with the People Power Party's election preparation committee.


윤다빈 기자 empty@donga.com