Gyeonggi Province Education Superintendent Election Records Lowest Voter Turnout at 12.3%

The Gyeonggi Province education superintendent election held on the 8th showed a significantly lower voter turnout compared to direct superintendent elections held in other provinces and metropolitan cities including Seoul, Daejeon, South Chungcheong, and North Jeolla.

According to the results of the Gyeonggi Province education superintendent election held from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. that day, 1,044,430 voters participated out of a total of 8,505,056 eligible voters (including 129,983 absentee voters), recording a voter turnout of 12.3%.

This voter turnout fell short of the Seoul Metropolitan Education Superintendent election at 15.5% (125,121,218 votes out of 8,084,574 eligible voters), which has a similar number of eligible voters as Gyeonggi Province.

Additionally, it also fell below voter turnout in Daejeon Metropolitan City (15.3%), South Chungcheong Province (17.2%), and North Jeolla Province (21%) education superintendent elections.

This low turnout was anticipated as campaigning began. An official from an election commission in the Suwon area stated, "The Gyeonggi Province Election Commission initially aimed to exceed the Seoul Metropolitan Education Superintendent election turnout of 15%," adding "However, there was skepticism within the commission about whether turnout exceeding this would materialize."

Analysis suggests that the low voter turnout resulted from the fact that the education superintendent election was not designated as a public holiday and the newly elected superintendent would serve a relatively short term of one year and two months before next year's local elections.

With voter turnout slightly exceeding 10%, questions are being raised about whether the elected education superintendent has sufficient representativeness to lead the education administration of the nation's largest regional local government.

An eligible voter Im, surnamed voter from Jangan-gu, Suwon said, "It is difficult to view a voter turnout remaining in the 10% range as representing all residents of the province," and added "Active interest from eligible voters is necessary."