Early voting turnout low ahead of Oct. 16 by-elections

Early voting for the Oct. 16 by-elections, which include races for local government head positions and the superintendent of education in Seoul, concluded on Saturday with a low turnout of 8.89 percent.

A child watches live footage from surveillance cameras at the Seoul Election Commission office in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Sunday. The office stores ballot boxes from the two-day early voting for the Oct. 16 by-election held on Friday and Saturday to select the city's superintendent of education. [YONHAP]

Early voting for the Oct. 16 by-elections, which include races for local government head positions and the superintendent of education in Seoul, concluded on Saturday with a low turnout of 8.89 percent.

According to the National Election Commission on Sunday, 775,971 of the 8.64 million eligible residents in five election areas — Incheon’s Ganghwa County, Busan’s Geumjeong District, South Jeolla’s Yeonggwang and Gokseong counties, and Seoul — cast their votes during two days of early voting on Friday and Saturday. Voting took place at 476 polling stations.

Turnout rates in Seoul stood at 8.28 percent, Busan’s Geumjeong District at 20.63 percent, Incheon’s Ganghwa County at 27.9 percent, South Jeolla’s Gokseong County at 41.44 percent and Yeonggwang County at 43.06 percent.

The turnout for the Oct. 16 by-elections was notably lower than the early voting rate for last year's Oct. 11 by-election to select the head of Seoul's Gangseo District Office, which saw a 22.64 percent turnout, with a final turnout of 48.7 percent.

Official campaigning for the Oct. 16 by-elections began on Oct. 3. The main voting will take place from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday.

On Saturday, both the conservative People Power Party (PPP) and the liberal Democratic Party (DP) focused their efforts on Busan’s Geumjeong District, as the rival parties cast the election as a broader referendum on national politics.

“This by-election is not just about selecting the Geumjeong District Office head; it’s about the fate of Korea,” DP leader Lee Jae-myung said at a rally supporting the party’s candidate, Kim Kyung-ja, in Busan.

Lee also urged residents to use the district chief race as an opportunity to hand down a "second judgment" on the Yoon Suk Yeol government and the conservative party.

Meanwhile, PPP leader Han Dong-hoon, who also visited Geumjeong to support the party's candidate, Yoon Il-hyun, stressed that redevelopment plans tailored to the district could only be accomplished by his party.

"This is something only we can do, as we hold the central government and 17 seats in Busan," Han said.

Geumjeong and Ganghwa are traditionally conservative-leaning areas, while Yeonggwang and Gokseong are strongholds of the liberals.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]