Photo : YONHAP News
Voting for the ninth nationwide local elections and by-elections kicked off at 6 a.m. Wednesday at over 14-hundred polling stations across the nation.
Voters are selecting 16 metropolitan mayors and provincial governors, 16 superintendents of education, 227 local government heads, and approximately four-thousand local council members.
The by-elections for parliamentary seats are being held in 14 constituencies nationwide.
According to the National Election Commission, the number of eligible voters stands at 44-point-64 million for the local elections and two-point-26 million for the by-elections.
The early voting rate for the local elections and by-elections, carried out Friday and Saturday, reached a record high for local elections at 23-point-51 percent.
The previous high of 20-point-62 percent was posted in the previous local elections, held in 2022.
Those who are elected on Wednesday will serve a four-year term that begins July 1 and ends June 30, 2030.
Polling stations will be open until 6 p.m., and voters must present a form of government-issued identification such as a resident registration card, passport or driver’s license.
South Korea’s three major terrestrial broadcasters — KBS, MBC and SBS — will conduct a joint exit poll, with results to be released through their election coverage as soon as voting ends at 6 p.m.