Credit: Public domain.
Election season should be peak season for polling companies, but not this year’s June 3 Local Elections 지방선거. With the ruling Democratic Party 민주당 poised to take even conservative bulwarks like Daegu 대구, neither the political parties nor the press have had much interest in running opinion polls.
According to an April 19 report by Weekly Chosun 주간조선, the polling firm Research & Research has seen polling requests drop by as much as 30% compared to the last Local Elections. In particular, the opposition People Power Party 국민의힘 has virtually given up on internal polling, as most races are not competitive. Media companies are also requesting fewer polls, as last year’s snap presidential election following Yoon Suk-yeol 윤석열’s impeachment and removal forced them to blow through their polling budgets ahead of schedule.
