North Koreans vote in parliament 'election' that may offer clues to shifts in power
Election of representatives to the Supreme People's Assembly doubles as national head count with the turnout above 90 per cent
North Koreans have voted in a pre-determined election for a rubber-stamp parliament - an exercise that usually doubles as a national head count and may offer clues to any power shifts in Pyongyang.
The vote to elect representatives for the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) was taking place as scheduled, the state-run KCNA news agency said, adding that voter turnout was 91 per cent as of 2pm yesterday.
Those who are ill or infirm and cannot travel to polling stations are casting votes at special "mobile ballot boxes", it added.
"Overjoyed" voters rushed to polling stations across the country from early in the morning, the news agency claimed, adding many danced and played music on the street in praise of the leader, Kim Jong-un.
The North's state TV showed hundreds of people across the country clad in brightly coloured traditional dresses dancing in circles on the street.
It's a chance to see who might be tagged for key roles under Kim Jong-un
State-run media have in recent weeks stepped up propaganda to promote the election, with a number of poems produced to celebrate voting under titles including The Billows of Emotion and Happiness and We Go To Polling Station.