SEOUL, May 29 (Bernama-Yonhap) -- An all-time high of 19.58 per cent of voters cast their ballots on Thursday, the first day of early voting for the upcoming presidential election to elect the successor to former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was ousted over his failed martial law bid, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The two-day early voting began at 3,568 polling stations nationwide earlier in the day. The official election is slated for next Tuesday.
More than 8.69 million out of 44,391,871 registered voters, or 19.58 per cent, cast their ballots from 6 am to 6 pm Thursday, according to the National Election Commission.
It marked the highest first-day turnout since nationwide early voting was introduced in 2014.
The figure is 2.01 percentage points higher than the corresponding turnout for the previous presidential election held in 2022, which stood at 17.57 per cent.
Currently, six hopefuls are vying for the presidential office.
The latest poll on the presidential election, published Wednesday, showed the DP's Lee in the lead at 49.2 per cent, followed by Kim of the PPP with 36.8 per cent. Lee Jun-seok came in third with 10.3 per cent support.
The single five-year term of the next president will begin immediately following the election.
-- BERNAMA-YONHAP
