The National Election Commission announced that as of 6 p.m. on the 3rd, the voter turnout for the 21st presidential election was provisionally counted at 77.8%.
Out of a total of 44,391,871 eligible voters for this presidential election, 34,553,900 have completed their voting.
This reflects the results of early voting in which 15,423,607 people participated between the 29th and 30th of last month (34.74%), as well as the tallies from overseas, shipboard, and home voting. The National Election Commission will make the early voting rates public on their website starting from 1 p.m.
So far, the voter turnout is 0.7 percentage points higher than the 77.1% turnout at the same time in the 20th presidential election in 2022.
As the combined early voting turnout is showing the highest rate among past presidential elections for this time of day, there is keen interest in whether the final turnout will exceed 80% for the first time since the 15th presidential election in 1997. The final voter turnout for the 19th presidential election, when early voting was introduced, was 77.2%, while the final turnout for the 20th presidential election was 77.1%.
The highest voting rate was recorded in Gwangju (82.9%), followed by Jeonnam (82.8%) and Jeonbuk (81.5%). The lowest was in Jeju (73.4%), followed by Chungnam (74.5%) and Chungbuk (75.8%). The voting rates for Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi were recorded at 78.3%, 76.2%, and 77.8%, respectively.
Voting will take place from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at 14,295 polling places nationwide for 14 hours. Unlike early voting, the actual voting must be done at the polling place designated for one's registered address. Voters can check the location of their polling places through the voting notice delivered to each household and the ‘voter registration system’ of their local governments, as well as the National Election Commission's polling place locator service on their website.
However, if individuals have received a waiting number while in line at the polling place by 8 p.m., they can still vote after the closing time.
Voters must carry their resident registration cards, passports, driver's licenses, youth cards, or government-issued identification with a photo. Stored images of mobile identification cannot be used.
Counting is expected to begin around 8:30 p.m. at 251 counting centers nationwide. The National Election Commission projected that the outline of the winning candidates will become clear around midnight. However, this timing may be adjusted earlier or later depending on the vote margin among candidates.