In the Press
Voter turnout for parliamentary elections hits 32-year high at 67 pct
- May 01, 2024
- 31
SEOUL, April 11 (Yonhap) -- The voter turnout in the parliamentary elections reached 67 percent, the highest in 32 years for general elections, the election watchdog said Thursday.
The National Election Commission (NEC) said 29.65 million out of an eligible 44.28 million voters cast their ballots at polling stations nationwide Wednesday.
The turnout was 0.8 percentage point higher than the 2020 tally of 66.2 percent, marking the highest turnout for general elections since 1992, when the turnout came in at 71.9 percent.
The turnout includes the record 31.28 percent turnout from last week's two-day early voting, and the votes by overseas South Korean nationals and those aboard ships.
Up for grabs were 300 National Assembly seats, including 254 directly contested seats and 46 proportional representative slots.
By region, the central administrative city of Sejong had the highest turnout of 70.1 percent, while the southern island of Jeju recorded the lowest at 62.2 percent.
Seoul's turnout logged the second highest at 69.3 percent, while Gyeonggi Province that surrounds the capital had 66.7 percent and Incheon, located west of Seoul, recorded 65.3 percent. The Seoul metropolitan area accounts for half of the nation's population of about 51 million.
In the elections widely seen as a midterm referendum for conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol, the main opposition Democratic Party won 161 districts and its satellite party garnered 14 proportional seats to retain a majority in the parliament.
The ruling People Power Party won 90 districts and its satellite party clinched 18 proportional seats, failing to provide much-needed momentum for Yoon during his remaining three years in office.
The Rebuilding Korea Party led by scandal-tainted former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, which is widely considered as a broader opposition bloc, won 12 proportional seats.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
[Photo] A voter casts a ballot for a parliamentary seat at a polling station in Cheongju, 112 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on April 10, 2024. (Yonhap)
