Early Voting Turnout at 10.4% as of 5 p.m. on First Day... Up 1.2 Percentage Points from Four Years Ago

4.64 Million Voters Participate
Jeonnam Surpasses 20% Turnout

As of 5:00 p.m. on the first day of early voting for the 9th nationwide local elections, the early voter turnout was recorded at 10.39%.

According to the National Election Commission, 4,639,816 out of a total of 44,649,908 eligible voters participated in the early voting that began at 6:00 a.m. on the 29th. This is 1.19 percentage points higher than the early voter turnout of 9.20% recorded at the same time during the 8th local elections four years ago. Although this figure is lower than the turnout at 5:00 p.m. for the 21st presidential election held last year and the 22nd general election in 2024, it is higher compared to the previous local elections.

On the 29th, the early voting day for the 9th nationwide local elections, travelers visiting the early voting station set up at Incheon International Airport Terminal 2 tunnel are lining up to vote. 2026.5.29 Photo by Kang Jinhyung

By region, Jeonnam recorded the highest turnout at 20.50%, making it the only region in the country to surpass 20%. It was followed by Jeonbuk at 17.63%, Gangwon at 13.05%, and Gwangju at 12.76%. On the other hand, Daegu had the lowest turnout at 8.09%. Gyeonggi recorded 8.68%, Incheon 9.05%, and Busan 9.57%. Seoul posted a turnout of 9.93%.

Compared to four years ago, the upward trend in the Honam region has grown stronger over time. Jeonbuk saw the largest increase, rising by 5.41 percentage points compared to the previous election, while Gwangju (up 4.98 percentage points) and Jeonnam, which will undergo an administrative merger this time (up 4.53 percentage points), also recorded significantly higher turnout than in the last election. In the Yeongnam region, Daegu (up 1.78 percentage points), Gyeongnam (up 1.35 percentage points), and Busan (up 1.13 percentage points) all recorded higher turnout than four years ago, whereas Gyeongbuk was the only region nationwide to post a lower turnout than four years ago, falling by 0.45 percentage points to 10.74%.

Early voting will take place nationwide at 3,571 polling stations from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. over two days, from the 29th to the 30th. The final early voter turnout for the 8th local elections was 20.62%, while the 22nd general election recorded 31.28%, and the 21st presidential election posted 34.74%.

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