As of 9 a.m., the turnout of the two-day early voting came to 5.52 percent, according to the National Election Commission. On Friday, 4.75 percent of electorates nationwide, or about 1.96 million people, cast their ballot.
South Korea first adopted the early voting system for a 2013 by-election, and this marks the first time that citizens are allowed to exercise their right to vote in advance for the nationwide local elections.
The early voting from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. allows citizens to vote at any of the country's 3,506 polling stations without registering for an absentee ballot.
The higher-than-expected turnout is expected to serve as a key variable in the elections, with the latest polls showing neck-and-neck races between the rival parties in most regions.
Amid lingering uncertainties about voter sentiment in the wake of last month's deadly sinking of the ferry Sewol that left more than 300 dead or missing, the polls are seen as a mid-term referendum on the President Park Geun-hye administration.
Park, who took office in February 2013, has seen her approval rating drop below 50 percent for the first time in more than a year amid public anger over the government's poor response to the Sewol ferry disaster. Of an estimated 476 people aboard, 288 have been confirmed dead and 16 are still missing.
Korean Language
지방선거 둘째날 사전투표율 오후3시 현재 9.07%
중앙선거관리위원회는 6·4 지방선거 사전투표 둘째날인 31일 오후 3시 현재 투표율은 9.07%로 집계됐다고 밝혔다.
이날 오전 6시부터 사전투표가 진행, 전국 선거인 4천129만6천228명 가운데 374만7천428명이 투표를 마쳤다.
사전투표가 처음 도입된 2013년 4·24 재·보궐선거 투표율은 오후 2시 기준 3.78%, 10·30 재보선에서는 4.53%로 나타났다.
지역별로는 전라남도 투표율이 14.90%(23만7천479명)로 가장 높았고, 전라북도가 13.11%(19만7천3명)로 뒤를 이었다.
반면 대구가 6.36%(12만8천65명)로 가장 낮았고, 부산도 7.04%(20만6천407명)에 불과했다.
수도권에서는 서울 8.53%(71만9천722명), 인천 8.83%(20만4천769명), 경기 8.02%(77만6천443명) 등을 기록, 평균을 밑돌았다.