YONHAP NEWS

Voter turnout likely to drop with interest weakening

   SEOUL, March 23 (Yonhap) -- Voter turnout will likely decline for the April 9 general elections as voters' interest in domestic politics is diminishing amid deepening economic woes, the nation's election watchdog said Sunday.

   A slim majority, or 51.9 percent, are determined to cast ballots in the elections, according to a survey of 1,500 voters done jointly by the National Election Commission (NEC) and Korea Research last week.

   The figure is nearly 10 percentage points lower than that for the previous elections in 2004, the NEC said, expressing concern that voters may stay away from the polls due to weakening interest in politics. Four years ago, the figure was 61.5 percent, close to the 60.6 percent of eligible voters who cast ballots.

   Only 11.1 percent said they were "very much interested" in the upcoming elections, while 5.8 percent said they were "interested," according to the NEC.

   Regarding their familiarity with candidates in their districts, only 10.7 percent said they were very familiar with them, while 47.3 percent said they only knew a few candidates. As many as 42 percent responded that they knew almost nothing.

   Nearly half of the respondents, 49.8 percent, did not know that they need to cast two ballots, one for a candidate and another for a party.

   hdh@yna.co.kr
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