S. Korea's voter turnout highest in 28 years despite pandemic
  • 4 years ago
21대 총선 최종 투표율 66.2% 잠정 집계…1992이후 최고치

The National Election Commission says preliminary voter turnout is the highest it's been in almost 30 years at 66-point-2 percent.
The figures could go up when the final numbers are confirmed.
Lee Kyung-eun has the latest.
As of 8 PM, the estimated voter turnout rate is 66-point-two percent. That's the highest figure for a general election since 1992.
It's also 8-point-two percentage points higher than the final turnout from the previous general election four years ago.
In the 6 previous elections, only twice, has the country seen a turnout of over 60 percent.
Such a high turnout is mainly attributed to last week's early voting, which reached a record-high turnout of 26.7 percent.
Breaking it down by region,... the city of Ulsan has seen the highest rate with 68-point 6 percent.
The capital Seoul is in third,... with 68-point-1 percent.
The lowest so far is Chuncheongnam-do Province.
"Much attention was on the southeastern city of Daegu -- the city hit hardest by the COVID-19 outbreak.
In the last general election, the voter turnout was the country's lowest.
But this year, it's among the top 10."
In fact, the city clinched the top spot briefly this morning.
It seems like COVID-19 has drawn people closer to politics, not away from it.
The NEC is taking a little longer than usual to announce the final turnout because the polls were open later for voters who were quarantined.
Lee Kyung-eun, Arirang News.
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