Rival parties blitz battleground districts after record-setting early voter turnout

General election 2024

Published: 07 Apr. 2024, 16:05 Updated: 07 Apr. 2024, 19:01

Rival parties blitz battleground districts after record-setting early voter turnout

Election staffers, escorted by police, move ballot boxes to a National Election Commission office in Jongno District in central Seoul after the second and final day of the early voting period for Wednesday’s general election wrapped up Saturday evening. [YONHAP]

Rival parties unleashed fierce campaigning efforts in highly contested areas last weekend ahead of the April 10 general election, after early voting turnout hit a record 31.28 percent.

This marks the first time early voting turnout for a parliamentary election surpassed 30 percent since the country introduced the system in 2014.

A total of 13,849,043 out of 44,280,011 eligible voters cast their ballots, the National Election Commission (NEC) said, after the two-day early voting for Wednesday's general election came to a close at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Over Friday and Saturday, early ballots were cast from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 3,565 polling stations nationwide.

Early voting turnout this year is 4.59 percentage points higher than the 2020 general election at 26.69 percent, and an increase of 19.09 percentage points compared to the 2016 general election, which came to 12.19 percent.

In comparison, early voting turnout for the 2022 presidential election reached a record high of 36.93 percent. However, turnout for legislative elections is generally lower than for presidential elections.

"Participation in early voting is increasing due to voting efficacy, through which voters believe that their ballots can greatly affect the outcome of the election," an NEC official said. "The early voting rate has also increased with the transparent disclosure of the election process, increasing the reliability of advance voting."

On Friday, many political heavyweights cast their ballots in advance.

President Yoon Suk Yeol, accompanied by aides, cast his ballot at a welfare center in Busan's Gangseo District while visiting the area to attend a ceremony to launch a new automated terminal at Busan New Port in Changwon on Friday.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and other members of the Yoon Cabinet voted early, as did former President Moon Jae-in.

Likewise, leaders of major and splinter political parties including liberal Democratic Party (DP) Chairman Lee Jae-myung, conservative People Power Party (PPP) interim chief Han Dong-hoon, the Saemirae Party's Lee Nak-yon, the Reform Party's Lee Jun-seok and the Rebuilding Korea Party's Cho Kuk all cast their votes on the same day.

Both the DP and PPP claimed that the higher early voting rates will work in their favor. Traditionally, high early voting turnout has worked in favor of liberals, but the last presidential election broke that trend, with PPP candidate Yoon beating DP candidate Lee Jae-myung by a razor-thin margin.

By region, South Jeolla saw the highest early voting turnout at 41.19 percent, followed by 38.5 percent in North Jeolla and 38 percent in Gwangju. Daegu had the lowest early voting turnout at 25.6 percent.

In the metropolitan area, Seoul saw a 32.63 percent turnout, Gyeonggi 29.54 percent and Incheon 30.06 percent.

With just three days left until the election, rival parties will focus especially on wooing voters in the crucial Seoul metropolitan area, which holds 122 seats, or nearly half of the 254 directly contested spots out of 300 parliamentary seats.

This breaks down to 48 seats in Seoul, 60 in Gyeonggi and 14 in Incheon.

People Power Party interim chief Han Dong-hoon, left, speaks at a rally held in Seocheon County, South Chungcheong, on Sunday, the last weekend to campaign ahead of Wednesday’s general election. [NEWS1]

Both the PPP and DP acknowledge that there are many constituencies in the metropolitan area where races are too tight to predict, hence they will be concentrating particularly on greater Seoul in the last days before election day.

The PPP's Han Dong-hoon visited Daejeon and the Chungcheong area to support local candidates on Sunday. He returned to the Chungcheong area after just five days, and is expected to focus campaigning activities this week in the capital area.

While rallying support in Daejeon's Yuseong District, Han lambasted DP chief Lee Jae-myung, saying, "Every time he opens his mouth, he lies."

He referred to a recent incident in which Lee posted a photo on social media on April 1 claiming he was eating pork belly in a meal while campaigning in an apparent bid to appear more proletariat, only to have critics point out he was eating beef.

Democratic Party chief Lee Jae-myung, left, speaks at a rally held in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on Sunday, the last weekend to campaign ahead of Wednesday’s general election. [NEWS1]

DP Chairman Lee focused on campaigning in the capital area, including his home constituency of Gyeyang District in Incheon.

"Please hold accountable those who ruined the country," Lee said regarding the Yoon government.

He was scheduled to support candidates in the traditionally conservative Seocho, Gangnam and Songpa districts in southern Seoul, usually considered tough contests for the DP, before heading to Hanam in Gyeonggi.

Attention is now focused on whether the record-high early voter turnout will lead to a high overall turnout for the general election, and whether it could hit the 70-percent mark.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]