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“Democracy is a long line to vote

By Seong Yeon-cheol, staff reporter

The National Election Commission, chaired by Kim Neung-hwan, forecast a turnout of about 70%. The victor is expected to be known around 11 p.m.

The NEC announced that as of 4pm, voter turnout stood at 64.9%. That figure is higher than at the same time on previous presidential election days.

In 1997, 62.3% of voters had turned out to vote by 3pm, followed by 54.3% in 2002 and 48.0% in 2007.

The commission issued election information materials on Dec. 18 and stated, “Based on voter awareness surveys carried out during every election, we expect the turnout of this election to be about 70%.” The expectation is based on the results of a survey conducted between Dec. 6 and 7 by the commission, which showed 79.9% of respondents said they would definitely vote.

The commission said the results will become clear between 11pm and midnight on the day of the election. This prediction was made considering turnout and the narrow gap of support between the two candidates. In the 2007 election, turnout was relatively low at 63% and there was a bigger gap between the two candidates, so the results began to become clear at around 8:30p.m., while in the 2002 election, in which Lee Hoi-chang and Roh Moo-hyun ran neck and neck right through the eleventh hour, the results were not clear until 10:30 p.m.

“The result might come out a little earlier than 11pm, but the race is close and the result is hard to predict. We may end up waiting even later than we did in 2002,” an NEC official said.

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