SEOUL, South Korea: Early voting in South Korea’s presidential elections began yesterday, with both main candidates casting ballots in a poll triggered by ex-leader Yoon Suk Yeol’s ill-fated suspension of civilian rule last year.
South Koreans are desperate to draw a line under months of political turmoil sparked by Yoon’s declaration of martial law, for which he was impeached.
Since then the Asian democracy has been led by a revolving door of lame duck acting presidents as its export-driven economy grapples with trade turmoil abroad and sluggish demand at home.
All major polls have placed liberal Lee Jae-myung as the clear frontrunner in the presidential race, with a recent Gallup survey showing 49 per cent of respondents viewed him as the best candidate.
Trailing behind him is conservative ex-labour minister, Kim Moon-soo, of the ruling People Power Party – Yoon’s former party – at 35 per cent.
While election day is set for June 3, those who want to vote early can do so yesterday and today.
South Koreans have in recent years turned out in growing numbers for early voting, with 37 per cent casting their ballots ahead of polling day in the 2022 presidential election.
By midday the early voting turnout rate was 8.7 per cent, the highest yet for that time in South Korean election history, according to Seoul’s National Election Commission.
The overseas voter turnout also reached a historic high, with fourfifths of 1.97 million eligible voters casting their ballots.
“Given that this election was held in the wake of an impeachment and a martial law crisis, it naturally reflects the public’s strong desire to express their thoughts about democracy in South Korea,” Kang Joo-hyun, a political science professor at Sookmyung Women’s University, told AFP.
Voting in Seoul yesterday morning, Lee told reporters: “There’s a saying that a vote is more powerful than a bullet.”
“Even an insurrection can only truly be overcome through the people’s participation at the ballot box,” added Lee of the Democratic Party.
According to a Gallup poll, more than half of his supporters said they planned to vote early, compared to just 16 per cent of Kim’s supporters.
Kim has said he will cast his vote in Incheon, west of Seoul, with his campaign framing it as “the beginning of a dramatic turnaround”, a nod to General Douglas MacArthur’s landing there during the Korean War.
Kim’s decision to vote early has surprised many on the right, where conspiracy theories about electoral fraud – particularly during early voting – are rife. – AFP
