Voters line up to cast ballots at an early voting station set up at the Bansong 2-dong Administrative Welfare Center in Haeundae District, Busan, on the second day of early voting for the 9th Nationwide Local Elections and National Assembly by-elections, the 30th. /Courtesy of News1

As of 5 p.m. on the 30th, the early voting rate for the 9th nationwide local elections held simultaneously is 22.16%, setting a new record for the highest early voting rate in a local election.

According to the National Election Commission, since early voting began at 6 p.m. the previous day, 9,892,334 out of a total of 44,649,908 eligible voters have cast their ballots so far.

This is 1.54 percentage points higher than the previous record for the highest early voting rate in a local election, the final early voting rate of 20.62% in the 2022 8th local elections. It is also 2.72 percentage points higher than the turnout at the same hour in the last local elections (19.44%).

However, it is 10.79 percentage points lower than the turnout at the same hour in the 21st presidential election held last year (32.95%), and 7.51 percentage points lower than the 22nd National Assembly election in 2024 (29.67%).

So far, the region with the highest turnout is South Jeolla (37.42%). It is followed by North Jeolla (33.46%), Gwangju (26.28%), and Gangwon (25.82%).

The lowest is Daegu at 17.52%, followed by Gyeonggi (19.66%), Busan (20.11%), and Incheon (20.34%). Seoul's turnout is 22.22%.

Early voting, which began at 6 a.m. the previous day, runs until 6 p.m. today. To take part in early voting, voters must bring identification and visit an early voting station.

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