Rate up 9.9 percentage points from 2022 local elections; 11 of 25 districts surpass 60%
Seoul's voter turnout stood at 59.1 percent as of 5 p.m. Wednesday, the voting day for the nationwide simultaneous local elections, outpacing the national average of 57.3 percent. Eleven of the city's 25 autonomous districts recorded turnout above 60 percent.
According to the National Election Commission, 4,919,251 of Seoul's 8,319,134 registered voters had cast their ballots by 5 p.m. The figure was 9.9 percentage points higher than Seoul's turnout at the same time during the 2022 local elections, when it stood at 49.2 percent.
Seongdong-gu led all 25 districts with a turnout of 61.8 percent. It was followed by Yangcheon-gu at 61.4 percent, Songpa-gu and Gangdong-gu both at 61.1 percent, Nowon-gu at 61.1 percent, Seocho-gu at 60.8 percent, Seodaemun-gu at 60.7 percent, Mapo-gu at 60.4 percent, Dongjak-gu at 60.2 percent, Jung-gu at 60.1 percent and Dobong-gu at 60 percent.
Jongno-gu recorded 59.6 percent, Dongdaemun-gu 59.4 percent, Yeongdeungpo-gu 59.3 percent, Gwangjin-gu and Seongbuk-gu 59.2 percent each, Yongsan-gu 58.9 percent, Guro-gu 58.6 percent and Eunpyeong-gu 58.5 percent.
Gangnam-gu came in at 57.4 percent, Gangseo-gu at 57.2 percent and Jungnang-gu at 57.0 percent. Gangbuk-gu recorded 55.9 percent and Geumcheon-gu 55.0 percent. Gwanak-gu posted the lowest turnout in Seoul at 54.7 percent.
Among the three Gangnam districts, Songpa-gu led with 61.1 percent, followed by Seocho-gu at 60.8 percent and Gangnam-gu at 57.4 percent.
The national turnout as of 5 p.m. was 57.3 percent, with 25,606,561 of 44,649,908 registered voters having cast ballots. By region, South Jeolla Province recorded the highest rate at 63.6 percent, followed by Gangwon Province at 61.9 percent, Daegu at 59.9 percent, Seoul at 59.1 percent, Busan at 58.1 percent, Daejeon at 56.3 percent, Gyeonggi Province at 54.5 percent and Gwangju at 51.5 percent. The figures include the early voting turnout of 23.51 percent recorded May 29-30.
In-person voting continues until 6 p.m. Voters may cast their ballots at the polling station designated for their registered address and must bring a valid form of identification, such as a national ID card, driver's license or passport.
cook@heraldcorp.com
