Voting for the presidential election begins... ”Theories that Lee Jae-myung will prevail vs. theories that Kim Moon-soo will turn things around” = Korean media

The 21st presidential election will be held at 13,295 polling stations across South Korea from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on the 3rd. Vote counting will begin at 8 p.m. when voting at each polling station closes.
Considering the time it takes for the ballot boxes to be transported to the polling stations, full-scale vote counting is expected to begin after 8:30 pm.
Exit poll results from three terrestrial TV stations (KBS, MBC, SBS) predicting the final voting results
The results will be made public immediately after the polls close. The focus of attention is on the disparity in vote share between Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung and People Power Party presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo.
Attention is focused on whether the trend will materialize or whether candidate Kim Moon-soo will turn things around. Unlike the advance voting, this election is only open to voters at the polling station where they are registered in their place of residence. The location of the polling station is announced to each household.
You can check the details in the notification sent to you, on the website of the National Election Commission, or through the consultation desk of your local government. When voting, you must bring a photo ID, driver's license, passport, etc.
You will need to prove your identity by ID. Welfare cards and student ID cards are also valid as long as they have a photo attached. You must fill out your ballot using the writing implements provided at the polling station.
If you use a brush or pen, your vote will be invalid. If you select multiple candidates, your vote will also be invalid. Taking photographs in the polling station is prohibited, and you must not reveal who you voted for.
If you are in line at the polling station after 8 p.m., you can still vote. Article 155 of the Korean Public Offices Election Act states that voters who arrive at the polling station by the deadline are issued a numbered ticket and can cast their vote.
The bill stipulates that the right to vote must be guaranteed. In the 2022 20th presidential election, the closing of the polls was delayed due to a sudden increase in the number of people waiting to vote.
The results will also be announced at around 8:10 p.m., not exactly at 8 p.m. After voting is over, the ballot boxes will be sealed. The voting officials will check that the ballots are sealed with a special seal.
The ballots will be escorted by police to the ballot counting stations in the presence of observers. The ballot counting will take place at 254 ballot counting stations nationwide, and approximately 70,000 personnel will be deployed for the ballot counting alone.
Taking this into account, full-scale vote counting is expected to begin around 8:30 p.m. The winner is likely to be announced around midnight. If there is a large disparity between the candidates, the result may be determined earlier.
In the 19th presidential election held in 2017, the news that former president Moon Jae-in had won the election was reported around 10 pm.
In the 2022 presidential election, the victory of former President Yoon Seok-yeol was confirmed at 2 a.m. the following day. The polling industry was under a one-week embargo on publishing poll results, but each candidate
There is likely to be no significant change in the approval ratings of the candidates. Looking at the recent trends in opinion polls, it is highly likely that Lee Jae-myung will continue to be the most popular candidate. One expert in the opinion polling industry said, "There has been no significant change in the approval ratings of the candidates.
Lee Jun-seok, candidate of the New Reform Party, also posted on his SNS, "According to detailed investigation and data analysis, candidate Kim Moon-soo has already been declared defeated."
Another thing that is likely to attract attention is the final voter turnout. Prior to this, the turnout for the early voting held on May 29 and 30 was 34.74%, the second highest in history.
The final turnout is expected to depend on how many voters in Daegu, North Gyeongsang Province, and Seoul's Gangnam area, who were reluctant to vote in the election, turn out in the main election.
It is expected that the turnout will be similar to or slightly lower than that of the 20th presidential election, in which the final turnout was 77.1%.