A baseball indoor training facility transformed into a surprise polling station (Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Ju-hyeong = Voters are casting their precious ballots at Cheonggu-dong Polling Station No. 1, set up in the indoor training facility of the Cheonggu Elementary School baseball team in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 3rd, the 9th National Simultaneous Local Elections. 2026.6.3 [Photo=Yonhap News]

The National Election Commission announced on the 3rd that as of 3 p.m., the voter turnout for the 9th National Simultaneous Local Elections was 51.9%.

Voting began simultaneously at polling stations nationwide at 6 a.m. today, with 23,164,097 out of a total of 44,649,908 eligible voters having cast their ballots. This figure also includes the results from the early voting held on May 29-30 (turnout of 23.51%) and absentee voting.

This is the highest turnout for the same time period since the 2nd Local Elections (1998), when time-based turnout statistics began to be compiled.

Furthermore, it surpasses the final turnout of 50.9% in the 8th Local Elections by 1.0 percentage point (p), showing a difference of 8.8%p based on the same time frame.

Currently, the region with the highest turnout is Jeonnam, recording 60.0%, making it the only one among the 17 metropolitan cities and provinces to achieve a turnout in the 60% range. Following closely were Gangwon (57.2%), Jeonbuk (56.3%), and Gyeongnam (55.5%).

The lowest turnout was recorded in Gwangju at 47.5%. Gyeonggi (49.0%), Incheon (49.2%), and Jeju (49.4%) followed. Seoul's turnout was recorded at 52.7%.

The election today will continue until 6 p.m., and voters can cast their ballots by bringing their identification and visiting the polling station corresponding to their registered address.

The time-based turnout officially announced by the National Election Commission is based on the voting status compiled by the election commissions of 256 districts, cities, and counties.

A 102-year-old grandmother casts her vote (Ulsan=Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Yong-tae = On the 3rd, the 9th National Simultaneous Local Elections and National Assembly by-elections, Kim Seong-sun, born in 1923 and currently 102 years old, is voting at Nongso 3-dong Polling Station No. 1, set up at Sang-an Middle School in Buk-gu, Ulsan City. 2026.6.3 [Photo=Yonhap News]