The National Election Commission announced at 3 p.m. on the 3rd that the voter turnout for the 21st presidential election has been provisionally tallied at 68.7%.

On the day of the 21st presidential election, residents visit the Third Polling Station in Yongmun-dong, Seo-gu, Daejeon, set up at the Yongmun-dong Administrative Welfare Center on the 3rd to put their ballots into the ballot box. /Courtesy of Yonhap News

Among the total 44,391,871 eligible voters for this presidential election, 30,504,825 have completed their voting.

This figure reflects the results of early voting, during which 15,423,607 participated from the 29th to the 30th of last month (34.74%), as well as voting results from overseas citizens and absentee ballots. The National Election Commission will begin publicly combining the early voting rates and other voting information on its website starting at 1 p.m.

The current voter turnout is 0.6 percentage points higher than the 68.1% turnout at the same time during the 20th presidential election in 2022.

The region with the highest turnout was Jeonnam at 77.8%, followed by Gwangju at 76.3% and Jeonbuk at 75.8%. The lowest turnout was in Busan at 65.8%, with Jeju at 65.9% and Incheon at 67.0% following. The turnout in Seoul and Gyeonggi was reported at 68.4% and 68.5%, respectively.

Voting will take place from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at 14,295 polling stations nationwide over a span of 14 hours. Unlike early voting, voters can only vote at their designated polling stations. The location of polling stations can be confirmed through the voting information pamphlet delivered to each household, the 'voter registration system' at district and city offices, and the polling station locator service on the National Election Commission's website.

However, those who are waiting in line at polling stations and have received a queue number by 8 p.m. will be allowed to vote even after the deadline.

Voters must bring a government-issued identification card such as a resident registration card, passport, driver’s license, or youth card that has a photo attached. Images saved on mobile identification cards cannot be used.

Vote counting is expected to begin around 8:30 p.m. at 251 counting stations nationwide. The National Election Commission anticipates that the outlines of the elected candidates will become clear around midnight. However, this timing may be advanced or delayed depending on the margin of vote percentages among the candidates.