오전 11시 현재 19.4% 투표율
Let's kick off our election coverage at the headquarters of the National Election Commission,... which will be keeping track of voter turnout throughout the day.
For more, we turn to Oh Jung-hee, who is at the site.
Jung-hee, voting seemed to be somewhat slow going this morning. How's it looking now?
Good afternoon, Mark.
It's been a bit more than six hours since the polls opened... and turnout is a bit low so far,... most likely because many voters already cast their ballots during the early voting period last week.
Turnout at 11 a.m. was 19-point-4 percent,... almost 7-percent lower than for the previous election in 2012.
There are roughly 42-point-4 million people registered to vote this year -- up five-percent from 2012 -- and so far over 8-million have cast their ballots.
Although turnout is a bit low at the moment, it's expected to pick up in the afternoon,... especially after 1 p.m., when the tallies from the early voting and overseas voting periods will be incorporated into the total.
So it sounds like the early morning turnout figures may not be a good indicator of the final turnout. We're also hearing that turnout this year may be much higher than in previous elections?
That is right, Mark.
In fact, the National Election Commission predicts that figure could exceed 80-percent.
If that's the case, this will be the first time in 20 years Korea sees a turnout of over 80-percent.
The last time it was this high was for the 1997 presidential election, when turnout was at 80-point-7 percent.
The NEC says voters have become much more proactive about politics in this election,... after the massive corruption scandal that led to the impeachment of the president.
According to a recent survey by the National Election Commission,... roughly 87-percent of eligible voters have responded that they will vote today.
On top of that, the high turnout rate of over 26-percent during the two-day early voting period last week could inspire the remaining voters.
Also, the polls will be open two hours longer this year than they were for the previous election,... which could also push up turnout in the end.
There are almost 14-thousand polling stations nationwide, and they're open until 8 p.m.
After that, the ballot boxes will be transported to the 251 counting centers around the country.
The vote counting will begin at 8:30 p.m. ... and early results could start coming in starting around 10 p.m.
That's all from me for now.
Back to you.
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