▲ This file photo taken in April 2006 shows a foreign voter casting a mock ballot under the guidance of a National Election Commission official at a Chinese school in Seoul. (Yonhap)

foreign voters-local elections

Foreign voters eligible for local elections top 150,000 to hit record high

SEOUL, May 27 (Yonhap) -- The number of foreigners eligible to vote in the June 3 local elections rose to an all-time high of over 150,000, government data showed Wednesday.

Foreign nationals eligible to vote in the upcoming nationwide elections totaled 151,532, up 18.7 percent, or 23,909 people, from the previous local elections in 2022, according to the data from the National Election Commission and the interior ministry.

Under the Public Official Election Act, foreign nationals aged 18 or older who have held an F-5 permanent residency visa for at least three years are eligible to vote in local elections for heads of local governments and local council members. They are not, however, allowed to vote in presidential and parliamentary elections.

Foreign voters first gained the right to vote in local elections in 2006. At that time, there were only 6,726 eligible foreign voters, but the number rose rapidly to 12,878 in 2010 and 48,428 in 2014.

In 2018, the number surpassed 100,000 for the first time, reaching 106,205. This year, 20 years after the introduction of foreign voting rights, the figure stands at about 22.5 times the 2006 level.

The share of foreign voters in the total electorate has also risen steadily, from 0.02 percent in 2006 to 0.03 percent in 2010, 0.12 percent in 2014, 0.25 percent in 2018 and 0.29 percent in 2022. This year, it recorded an all-time high of 0.34 percent.

Despite the sharp increase in the number of foreign voters, their voter turnout has declined or remained largely stagnant. The government data showed the voter turnout for foreigners fell from 35.2 percent in 2010 to 17.6 percent in 2014, 13.5 percent in 2018 and 13.3 percent in 2022.

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