June 3 Local Elections See Provisional Turnout of 61.0%, Second Highest Ever with 27.24 Million Voters

10.1 Percentage Points Higher Than the Previous Election

The final voter turnout for the 6·3 local elections was provisionally tallied at 61.0%. This is the second-highest record in history and 10.1 percentage points higher than that of the 8th local elections held four years ago.

According to the National Election Commission on June 4, a provisional total of 27,249,586 out of 44,649,908 eligible voters participated in the 9th local elections. This figure includes early voting, which was conducted over two days on May 29 and 30, with a turnout of 23.51%. The turnout for these elections ranks just behind that of the 1st local elections, which recorded 68.4%. It is also significantly higher than the previous local elections, which saw a turnout of 50.9%.

On the first day of early voting for the 9th nationwide local elections on the 29th, soldiers are casting their votes at an early voting station set up at the Hannam-dong Community Service Center in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. 2026.5.29 Photo by Hyunmin Kim

The region with the highest voter turnout was Jeonnam (65.7%), followed by Gangwon (64.5%), Gyeongnam (64.4%), and Daegu and Ulsan (each at 64.2%). The lowest turnout was recorded in Gwangju at 54.3%. Seoul's turnout was 63.6%, surpassing the national average.

However, the record-high turnout was overshadowed by a shortage of ballot papers in the Songpa-gu, Gangnam-gu, and Gwangjin-gu areas on the day of the election.

The final voter turnout for the National Assembly by-elections and re-elections (held in 14 districts) was 60.9%. Out of 2,267,121 eligible voters, 1,380,187 cast their ballots.

Heo Cheolhun, Secretary General of the National Election Commission, explained regarding the ballot paper shortage, "The number of ballot papers is determined by considering the voter turnout in recent past elections and the anticipated early voting rate. In that process, the decisions are made by a resolution of committee members at the district and county election committees." He added, "In the case of Songpa-gu, there are a total of 146 polling stations, so in some polling stations, the number of voters turned out to be higher than expected, resulting in a shortage of ballot papers."

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