오늘부터 21대 총선 사전투표 시작...첫날 투표율 12%넘어 역대 최고치<br /><br />South Korea will hold a general election next week on April 15th, and today is the first day of early voting.<br />The voting has ended today but voters will be able to cast their ballots tomorrow between 6 AM and 6 PM.<br />The voter turnout for the first day of the early voting marked an all-time high despite concerns over the coronavirus.<br />Our Kim Mok-yeon has more.<br />Voters headed to some 3,500 polling stations nationwide on Friday to cast their ballots for the 300 parliamentary seats that will make up the 21st National Assembly.<br />After presenting valid ID, voters receive two ballots: one to pick candidates for their specific districts, and one to choose candidates under the nationwide proportional representation system.<br />There's a great deal of attention on turnout during the early voting period, because in the past two large-scale elections, this is when more than one-fifth of the total electorate cast their ballots.<br />Despite concerns about the coronavirus pandemic, Friday's turnout has been tallied at 12.1 percent, which is the highest ever recorded for the first full day of early voting.<br />Citizens say it's even more important to exercise their right to vote at this difficult time.<br />"I think overcoming this difficult time by coming out to vote shows the power of the people and the power of our votes."<br />"Because so many people are going through hard times right now, I came by from work with the hope of creating a better country for our citizens."<br />"As part of efforts to reduce the possible spread of the virus, the National Election Commission has been disinfecting all polling stations nationwide.<br />When voters enter the polling station, authorities check their temperature and ask them to spray disinfectant on their hands, wear gloves and put on a mask."<br />The polling stations are sanitized regularly, and when people wait in line, they are required to stay at least a meter away from each other.<br />The Commission also set up special polling stations for voters who've been diagnosed with COVID-19.<br />"...COVID-19 patients who pre-registered can vote at their respective hospitals and medical centers.<br />Those who are under quarantine at medical centers and weren't able to register can cast their ballots at special early polling stations."<br />There are eight such polling stations up and running at treatment centers across the nation.<br />The NEC says it's still in the process of deciding how to enable people to vote while in self-quarantine.<br />The details of that, it said, will be announced on April 12th.<br />Kim Mok-yeon, Arirang News.<br />
