More than a quarter of eligible South Korean voters have already cast their ballots for who should be the country’s next president.
South Korea is set to break a record in early voting as more than 12 million voters cast their ballot in advance of the country’s upcoming presidential election.
The figure for early voting – as of midday on Friday – represents more than a quarter of South Korea’s 44.3 million eligible voters, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.
Early voting started on Thursday and will end on Friday, in advance of the official vote on Tuesday that will see South Koreans choose who will replace impeached President Yoon Sook-yeol.
Yoon set off a political storm in South Korea in December when he briefly imposed martial law before the controversial move was overturned by the National Assembly.
The ex-president claimed his decision to declare martial law and order the detention of opposition politicians was due to the government’s infiltration by antistate and North Korean forces.
Yoon was impeached the same month but was not removed from office until April when South Korea’s constitutional court signed off on the impeachment vote.
The last poll before the election placed the Democratic Party’s Lee Jae-myung as the frontrunner with 42.9 percent support, followed by Kim Moon-soo from Yoon’s conservative People Power Party with 36.8 percent, according to Yonhap.
The candidates were trailed in a distant third place by the conservative New Reform Party candidate Lee Jun-seok, who held just 10.3 percent of support.
Voting turnout has been highest in regions of South Korea affiliated with the Democratic Party, while turnout has been lowest in conservative strongholds like Gyeongsang Province, according to David Lee, a Seoul-based journalist.
“The morale at the Democratic Camp is much more energetic, especially after the historic impeachment trial,” he told Al Jazeera. “PPP supporters, on the other hand, are navigating murkier waters.”
The vote is expected to bring an end to months of political turmoil in South Korea, where a polarised public has mobilised both for and against the impeached Yoon.
Fraud conspiracy theories have also swept the election period, Lee said, linked in part to provisions for early voting.
South Korean police reported an uptick in vandalism of campaign materials and said this week they had apprehended at least 690 people over related incidents, according to Yonhap.
Frontrunner Lee told the media he has been wearing a bulletproof vest and installed bulletproof glass at campaign rallies following threats on his life.
Police also said this week they had counted 11 cases of social media posts threatening Lee, and one threatening to kill the New Reform Party’s candidate.
