Early Voting Turnout at 10 a.m. Reaches 2.71%... Jeonnam at 6.37%, Daegu at 2.04%

1. 1.21 Million Cast Early Ballots
2. Honam Region Including Jeonbuk Sees Higher Turnout Than Four Years Ago
3. Gyeongbuk Turnout Falls Compared to Previous Election

On the first day of early voting for the 9th nationwide simultaneous local elections, the early voter turnout as of 10 a.m. was recorded at 2.71%.

According to the National Election Commission, 1,211,777 out of a total of 44,649,908 eligible voters participated in early voting that began at 6 a.m. on May 29. This figure is 0.15 percentage points higher than the early voting turnout of 2.56% recorded at the same time during the 8th local elections four years ago. While it is lower than the 10 a.m. turnout in last year's 21st presidential election (5.24%) and the 22nd general elections in 2024 (3.57%), it shows a slight increase when compared with past local elections.

On May 29, the early voting day for the 9th nationwide simultaneous local elections, a traveler is casting a vote at the early voting station set up in the Passenger Terminal 2 tunnel of Incheon International Airport. 2026.5.29 Photo by Kang Jinhyung

By region, Jeonnam recorded the highest turnout at 6.37%, followed by Jeonbuk at 5.04%, Gangwon at 3.51%, and Gwangju at 3.34%. On the other hand, Daegu had the lowest turnout at 2.04%. Gyeonggi recorded 2.18%, Incheon 2.27%, and Busan 2.34%. Seoul recorded a turnout of 2.49%.

Compared to four years ago, the increase in voter turnout in the Honam region is even more pronounced. Jeonbuk saw the largest increase, rising by 1.36 percentage points compared to the 8th elections, while Jeonnam (up 1.12 percentage points), which will be administratively integrated, and Gwangju (up 1.16 percentage points) also recorded higher turnout than in the previous election. In contrast, Gyeongbuk recorded 2.95%, a decrease of 0.45 percentage points from the last local elections. Daegu's early voting rate rose by 0.29 percentage points compared to the previous local elections four years ago.

Early voting will be held at 3,571 polling stations nationwide from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on both May 29 and 30. The final early voting turnout for the 8th local elections was 20.62%, while the 22nd general elections recorded 31.28%, and the 21st presidential election recorded 34.74%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.