with the 21st presidential election taking place on the 3rd, when will the outline of the winner emerge? After voting ends at 8 p.m., the leading candidate is expected to be determined around midnight. However, the timing may be advanced or delayed depending on the vote difference between candidates.
according to the National Election Commission, the 21st presidential election's main voting will take place on the 3rd from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Typically, presidential voting is conducted from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
however, this time it will be extended until 8 p.m. due to it being a by-election following the impeachment of a former president.
voting will be conducted at 14,259 polling stations nationwide. Counting will begin after voting ends at 8 p.m.
the National Election Commission will seal the ballot insertion slots with special stickers as soon as the voting ends, and, along with voting managers and observers under police escort, will transport the ballot boxes to 251 counting locations nationwide.
at each counting location, ballots will be sorted into those without envelopes and those with envelopes for counting. Ballots without envelopes will be counted in the order of in-person early voting, then main voting. Counting of ballots that need to be removed from mailing envelopes such as those for out-of-district early voting and overseas, maritime, and residence voting will be conducted in a separate area.
the exit poll results from the three broadcasting companies, MBC, KBS, and SBS, are expected to be announced around 8:10 p.m., shortly after voting ends. The exit poll targets about 100,000 voters who completed voting at 325 polling stations nationwide on election day.
the timing of when the media reports a candidate as "likely elected" will depend on the vote percentage differences among the candidates.
for example, in the 19th presidential election held as a by-election following the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye, the "likely projection" for former President Moon Jae-in came two hours after counting began. The vote percentage gap with candidate Hong Joon-pyo was 17.05 percentage points. The victory speech was given around 11:40 p.m. at Gwanghwamun Square.
on the other hand, in the 20th presidential election, where the gap between the first and second candidates was only 0.73 percentage points, the projection that former President Yoon Seok-youl was likely to win did not come until eight hours later. Former President Yoon gave the victory speech after 4 a.m. the next day.
then, when is the elected president officially confirmed as president? According to the National Election Commission, they will hold a full commission meeting between 7 and 9 a.m. on the 4th to officially confirm the elected president as president based on the election counting results.
a spokesperson from the National Election Commission explained, “Once the agenda is resolved in the meeting, the elected president becomes the president,” noting that “the entire process from the start of the meeting to the resolution typically takes about ten minutes.”