The liberal Democratic Party was set to hold its second round of in-house vote Wednesday to select its standard-bearer in the upcoming presidential election.

The one-day vote was set to begin at 2 p.m., only involving full-time party members from the central city of Daejeon, located some 160 kilometers south of Seoul, and the surrounding North and South Chungcheong provinces, according to party officials.

The outcome of the vote was expected to be released later in the day in combination with the outcome of an earlier telephone survey and a vote that involved tens of thousands of voters in the region, including nonparty members.

Wednesday's vote follows a sweeping victory of the party's election front-runner Moon Jae-in in the southwestern city of Gwangju and the Jeolla provinces, considered the traditional power base of the liberal party.

The Chungcheong provinces and the city of Daejeon, on the other hand, are largely considered the home turf of An Hee-jung, the incumbent governor of South Chungcheong Province and the runner-up in recent polls for the May 9 presidential election.

In the first round of the primary held Monday, Moon took 60.2 percent of votes cast, far more than a simple majority he or any other contender need to win the party's nomination.

Anyone with more than a majority of votes will be named the party's candidate for the upcoming election after the fourth and final round of the primary in Seoul on Monday.

The third round will be held Friday involving voters and party electorates in the southeastern Gyeongsang provinces and Busan, the party said.

Two other contenders are currently bidding for party nomination in the presidential election. They are Seongnam City Mayor Lee Jae-myung and Goyang City Mayor Choi Sung. (Yonhap)