Absentee voting for the Dec. 19 presidential election kicked off on Wednesday, beginning in Auckland, New Zealand.

With absentee voting for overseas Koreans having been implemented for the first time for the April 11 general elections, this is the first presidential election in which overseas votes will be counted.

The government received voter registrations from overseas Koreans between July 22 and Oct. 20. Of the estimated 2.23 million overseas Koreans, about 222,000, or just under 10 percent, are registered to vote.

Compared to the April 11 general elections, the number of overseas Koreans who registered to cast their ballots in the presidential election rose by about 80 percent.

Of the 222,000, about 80.6 percent are Korean citizens such as students and those working abroad. The remaining 43,000 are Koreans who have obtained permanent residency in other countries.

Overseas voting will be conducted for between four and six days depending on the number of registered voters in each country. Ballots will be collected in 110 nations, and the last overseas polling station to receive votes will be the consulate general located in Honolulu, Hawaii, where the voting will take place until 5 p.m. on Dec. 11.

The National Election Commission plans to bring the ballots into the country by Dec. 16, and begin counting after 6 p.m. on Dec. 19, after the polls are closed in Korea.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)