October 16 by-elections at around midnight...Turnout 24.62%

As of 9:30 p.m., 48% of the votes counted for the re-election of Gokseong-gun, Jeollanam-do,

First election since the general election...the outline of the president-elect before and after midnight

Final by-elections Turnout of 24.62%…Seoul Superintendent of Education 23.48%

First election since the general election...Keep an eye on the results of the ruling and opposition parties' vote counting.

[Anchor]
Currently, the counting of votes for the October 16 by-elections, which will select four heads of local governments and the superintendent of education in Seoul, is underway.

The final turnout was 24.62%, and the turnout for heads of local governments was relatively high, but the participation rate was relatively low in the election of the Seoul superintendent of education.

I'm connecting with the reporter. Reporter Na Hye-in, please tell us the status of the by-elections.

[Reporter]
As of 9:30 p.m. just now, the re-election of Gokseong-gun, Jeollanam-do, is the fastest.

The vote ended at 8 p.m., and the count is already around 48%.

Cho Sang-rae of the Democratic Party of Korea is leading the way with 57% of the vote, beating Park Woong-doo of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party by more than 20%p.

The turnout for the re-election of Yeonggwang-gun County, Jeollanam-do Province, where the opposition party's family fight was fierce, is still around 12%.

Democratic Party candidate Jang Sae-il and Progressive Party candidate Lee Seok-ha, who made a last-minute splash, are in a super-contest with 37 percent of the vote each.

Candidate Jang Hyun of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party is trailing the two candidates with 22% of the vote.

The by-election of the head of Busan's Geumjeong-gu District Office and the by-election of Ganghwa County in Incheon, which are considered the biggest destinations for the ruling and opposition parties, are still slow to vote around 1%.

The by-election of the Seoul Superintendent of Education, which was held regardless of political parties, is still around 1%, with Chung Geun-sik of the progressive camp and Cho Jeon-hyuk of the conservative camp competing closely.

Even in areas where votes are slow to be counted, the outline of the president-elect is expected to be revealed to some extent by midnight.

[Anchor]
What was the turnout rate?

[Reporter]
The final turnout for the by-elections was provisionally tallied at 24.62%.

The turnout for the Seoul Superintendent of Education election, which had a large number of voters in the 8 million range, was as low as 23.48 percent, which led to the average turnout.

The average turnout of the four basic organizations was 53.9%, exceeding 48.7% during the by-election of the head of Gangseo-gu District Office in Seoul last October.

Two years ago, voters in the by-elections showed higher participation in voting than the national average of 50.9% during the June 1 local elections.

The highest turnout was in Yeonggwang-gun, Jeollanam-do, where the fierce election campaign between opposition candidates took place, recording 70.1%.

Voter turnout for the re-election in Gokseong-gun, Jeollanam-do, followed by 58.3% for the by-election in Ganghwa-gun, Incheon, and 47.2% for the election of Busan Geumjeong-gu District, which the ruling and opposition parties cited as the winning point.

In the local elections two years ago, turnout in this area was 51.3 percent.

Both the ruling and opposition parties interpret that by-elections and high voting enthusiasm are not disadvantageous to their party candidates.

Although it is not an election to select lawmakers or heads of regional organizations, it is the first opportunity to confirm local public sentiment since the general election, so the leadership of the ruling and opposition parties and the battle for political leadership are expected to change depending on the results.

I'm Na Hye-in from YTN in the political department.