As of 8 a.m. on the 3rd, the voter turnout for the 21st presidential election was provisionally recorded at 5.7%.
According to the National Election Commission website, the voting, which began simultaneously at 6 a.m. at 14,295 polling places nationwide, saw 2,535,295 people vote out of a total of 44,391,871 eligible voters within the first two hours, resulting in a turnout of 2.4%.
This is 0.7 percentage points higher than the 5.0% voter turnout at the same time during the 20th presidential election in 2022.
The region with the highest voter turnout was Daegu (7.1%), followed by North Gyeongsang (6.7%) and Daejeon (6.4%). The lowest turnout was in Gwangju (3.9%), followed by South Jeolla (4.1%) and North Jeolla (4.2%). The voter turnout in Seoul was recorded at 5.3%.
In early voting, the turnout was highest in the Honam region with South Jeolla (56.50%), North Jeolla (53.01%), and Gwangju (52.12%), while the Yeongnam region had lower rates with Daegu (25.63%), Busan (30.37%), and South Gyeongsang (31.71%). The Seoul metropolitan area also fell below the national average with Seoul (34.28%), Incheon (32.79%), and Gyeonggi (32.88%).
The early voting rate will be included in the voter turnout published at 1 p.m. on that day.
This voting will take place at 14,295 polling places nationwide for 14 hours until 8 p.m. Unlike early voting, which allows voters to vote anywhere during the designated period, in-person voting must be conducted at the designated polling place based on one's registered address. Polling place locations can be confirmed through the voter information pamphlet delivered to households, the 'voter rolls inquiry system' of district offices, and the polling place locator service on the National Election Commission's website.
However, if you received a waiting number after standing in line at the polling place by 8 p.m., you will still be able to vote after the closing time.
Voters must carry a resident registration card, passport, driver's license, youth identification card, or any government-issued photo ID. Stored images of mobile IDs cannot be used.
Counting is expected to start at around 8:30 p.m. at 251 counting centers nationwide. The National Election Commission projected that the outline of the winning candidates will be revealed around midnight. However, this timing may be moved forward or delayed depending on the vote margin among candidates.