Almost all North Korean voters cast ballots on Sunday to elect representatives for local assemblies, state media said, with the polls expected to unanimously favour the ruling communist party. The vote for deputies to assemblies at provincial, city and county levels began at 9:00am (0000 GMT) across the country, with participants in a festive mood, Korean Central News Agency said.
“Polling stations are crowded with well-dressed voters eagerly waiting for their turns… with many dancing to music of drums and gongs,” KCNA said. It said that all participants would cast “yes” votes in support of the ruling communist party, adding later about 99.97 percent of eligible voters had cast their ballots by 6pm local time (0900 GMT). The exceptions were “those on foreign tour or working in oceans”, while elderly and sick people who could not go to polling stations “cast their ballots into mobile ballot boxes.”
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il visited a polling station in the capital Pyongyang to cast his vote along with other senior officials including his youngest son and heir apparent, Jong-Un, said KCNA.
