At 7:00 p.m. on March 27,  in Room 131 of the College of Politics & Economics building, a student body was conducting an orientation presentation, rather than the Seoul Campus Central Election Committee (CEC) counting votes. This was because the vote counting, originally scheduled for that day, was postponed by one day due to insufficient voter turnout.

Polling booth at the College of Politics & Economics building

In accordance with the Seoul Campus Election Rules (ER), vote counting is permitted only when voter turnout exceeds 50%. For the 2025 academic year, the official enrollment stands at 13,866, meaning that approximately 6,900 voters are required for the vote to be counted.

However, the threshold was not met, even after the election period was extended by an additional day. The Seoul Campus CEC had originally planned to count the votes on March 26. While candidates for the college student associations and departmental student associations in the by-elections successfully completed their vote counting, the sole GSA candidate, KnocKH, was unable to do so due to insufficient voter turnout. On that day, 5,356 out of 13,866 students cast their votes, resulting in a turnout of 38.6%.

This led the GSA to reschedule the vote-counting event on March 27. During this period, an additional 796 students cast their votes, bringing the total to 6,152 as of 6:00 p.m. However, the turnout rate remained at only 44.4%, which was still far from the vote-counting requirement. Consequently, the CEC extended the voting period to 6:00 p.m. on March 28, in accordance with the ER.

An investigation into voter turnout by college revealed generally low participation rates. 14 colleges from Seoul Campus were eligible to vote in the GSA election; however, only four of them surpassed the 50% turnout threshold. By 6:00 p.m. on March 27, the College of Nursing Science, the School of Dance, the College of Fine Arts, and the School of Global Eminence recorded turnout rates of 53.29%, 66.67%, 57.43%, and 57.71%, respectively. The remaining 10 colleges and schools fell short of the 50% turnout rate.

The final step is to monitor student participation. To proceed with the vote count for KnocKH, 781 more votes must be cast by 6:00 p.m. on March 28. If the turnout requirement is met, the votes will be counted; otherwise, the Seoul Campus GSA election will be canceled, and the GSA will continue under the Emergency Response Committee.

The vote counting will be held at the same location. As with today, the CEC plans to count the votes in Room 131 of the College of Politics & Economics building. Unlike the previous counting event, the Voice of University Seoul branch will not livestream the process. The CEC also does not plan to broadcast the vote-counting moment, meaning on-site attendance is the only way to witness it.

Entrance of the College of Politics & Economics building

Through this by-election, the structure of the Kyung Hee University Seoul Campus GSA for the 2025 academic year will be determined. The Seoul Campus GSA has been operating under an Emergency Response Committee due to the cancellation of the previous election, which had no registered candidates. The result of this by-election will determine whether the 2025 GSA will be led by a representative chosen by the students. As students are the primary stakeholders in university life, this vote signifies whether their voices will be better represented in future student affairs. In light of the low voter turnout, greater attention and participation are essential.