More than 150,000 foreigners eligible to vote in local elections this year, a new high

Officials demonstrate election equipment, including ballot-sorting machines, during a training session in Daegu on April 16. [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 data from the National Election Commission and the Interior Ministry.

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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.