Big Surge in Eligible Voters Over 2007 Presidential Election

The National Election Commission on Wednesday said the total number of eligible voters in this year's presidential election stands at 40.46 million people.

That is 2.81 million more than in the previous presidential election in 2007. The age group that saw the greatest increase in number was between 50 and 60. There are around 1.95 million more voters in their 50s now and 1.6 million more in their 60s than in the last presidential election, but the number of those in their 40s rose by only 320,000.

The number of voters in their 20s and 30s actually shrank by around 1.17 million and there are now around 88,000 more 19-year-old voters.

Eligible voters account for 79.3 percent of Korea’s total population of 50.99 million as of November. Voters in their 40s formed the biggest group at 8.8 million or 21.8 percent, followed by those over 60 at 8.41 million or 20.8 percent.

Next are 30-somethings at 20.1 percent, those in their 50s at 19.2 percent, and those in their 20s at 16.4 percent. Nineteen-year olds make up 1.7 percent.

By region, Gyeonggi Province has the largest number of eligible voters at 9.35 million, followed by Seoul (8.37 million), the southern port city of Busan (2.9 million), South Gyeongsang Province (2.6 million) and the western port city of Incheon (2.24 million).

Women outnumber men by about 500,000.