| Japan |
This article is part of the series: |
|
|
|
Constitution
Judiciary
Prefectures
Elections
Foreign relations
|
|
Other countries · Atlas |
The Japanese political system has three types of elections: general elections to the House of Representatives held every four years (unless the lower house is dissolved earlier), elections to the House of Councillors held every three years to choose one-half of its members, and local elections held every four years for offices in prefectures, cities, and villages. Elections are supervised by election committees at each administrative level under the general direction of the Central Election Administration Committee, an attached organization to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC). The minimum voting age is twenty years; voters must satisfy a three-month residency requirement before being allowed to cast a ballot. For those seeking office, there are two sets of age requirements: twenty-five years of age for admission to the House of Representatives and most local offices, and thirty years of age for admission to the House of Councillors and the prefectural governorship. Each deposit for candidacy is 3 million yen (30 thousand dollars) for single-seat constituency and 6 million yen (60 thousand dollars) for proportional representation.
Contents |
The Diet (Kokkai) has two chambers. The House of Representatives (Shugi-in) has 480 members, elected for a four year term, 300 members in single-seat constituencies and 180 members by proportional representation in 11 block districts. In this system, each voter votes twice, once for a candidate in the local constituency, and once for a party, each of which has a list of candidates for each block district. The local constituencies are decided by plurality, and the block seats are then handed out to the parties proportionally (by the D'Hondt method) to their share of the vote, who then appoint members from their lists. Often the parties assign the block seats to unsuccessful single-seat candidates.
The House of Councillors (Sangi-in) has 242 members, elected for a six year term, 146 members in multi-seat constituencies (prefectures) and 96 by proportional representation on the national level. Half of the House of Councillors comes up for election every three years.
For many years Japan was a one party dominant state until 1993 with the Liberal Democratic Party as the ruling party. They lost office and then soon regained power. The 2009 elections handed the first non-LDP victory to the Democratic Party of Japan. Due to the majoritarian parallel voting system it is unlikely that Japan will develop a multi-party system, but there is speculation that after 2009, Japan will develop a two-party system.
According to a survey by Yomiuri Shimbun in April 2010, almost half of Japanese voters do not support any political parties due to political inefficiency.[1]
| Alliances and parties | Prefectural constituency vote | National PR vote | Elected in 2010 | Seats not up |
Total seats | +/−[3] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | +/−[3] | Votes | % | Seats | +/−[3] | ||||||
| Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) Minshutō – 民主党 | 22,756,000.342 | 38.97% | 28 | 8 | 18,450,139.059 | 31.56% | 16 | 2 | 44 | 62 | 106 | 10 | |
| People's New Party (PNP) Kokuminshintō – 国民新党 | 167,555 | 0.29% | 0 | 2 | 1,000,036.492 | 1.71% | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
| New Party Nippon (NPN) Shintō Nippon – 新党日本 | no candidate | 0 | 1 | 1[4] | 0 | ||||||||
| DPJ–PNP Coalition | 22,923,555.342 | 39.25% | 28 | 10 | 19,450,175.551 | 33.27% | 16 | 3 | 44 | 66 | 110 | 13 | |
| Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Jimintō – 自民党 | 19,496,083 | 33.38% | 39 | 14 | 14,071,671.422 | 24.07% | 12 | 1 | 51 | 33 | 84 | 13 | |
| New Komeito Party (NKP) Kōmeitō – 公明党 | 2,265,818 | 3.88% | 3 | 0 | 7,639,432.739 | 13.07% | 6 | 2 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 2 | |
| New Renaissance Party (NRP) Shintō Kaikaku – 新党改革 | 625,431 | 1.07% | 0 | 3 | 1,172,395.190 | 2.01% | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | |
| former LDP–NKP—NRP Coalition | 22,387,332 | 38.33% | 42 | 11 | 22,883,529.351 | 39.15% | 19 | 4 | 61 | 44 | 105 | 7 | |
| Your Party (YP) Minna no Tō – みんなの党 | 5,977,391.485 | 10.24% | 3 | 3 | 7,943,649.369 | 13.59% | 7 | 7 | 10 | 1 | 11 | 10 | |
| Japanese Communist Party (JCP) Kyōsantō – 共産党 | 4,256,400 | 7.29% | 0 | 0 | 3,563,556.590 | 6.10% | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 1 | |
| Social Democratic Party (SDP) Shamintō – 社民党 | 602,684 | 1.03% | 0 | 0 | 2,242,735.155 | 3.84% | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | |
| Sunrise Party of Japan (SPJ) Tachini – たち日 | 328,475 | 0.56% | 0 | 1 | 1,232,207.336 | 2.11% | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | |
| Happiness Realization Party (HRP) Kōfuku – 幸福 | 291,810 | 0.50% | 0 | 0 | 229,026.162 | 0.39% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Independents[5] | 1,314,313.027 | 2.25% | 0 | 2 | — | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||||
| Other parties | 318,847 | 0.55% | 0 | 0 | 908,582.924 | 1.55% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total (turnout 57.92%) | 58,400,807.899 | 100.0% | 73 | 1 | 58,453,432.438 | 100.0% | 48 | 0 | 121 | 121 | 242 | 1 | |
| Alliances and parties | Local constituency vote | PR block vote | Total seats | +/− | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes[10] | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | (pre-election) | (last gen. election) | |||
| Democratic Party (DPJ) | 33,475,335 | 47.43% | 221 | 29,844,799 | 42.41% | 87 | 308 | 193 | 195 | |
| Social Democratic Party (SDP) | 1,376,739 | 1.95% | 3 | 3,006,160 | 4.27% | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | |
| People's New Party (PNP) | 730,570 | 1.04% | 3 | 1,219,767 | 1.73% | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | |
| New Party Nippon | 220,223 | 0.31% | 1 | 528,171 | 0.75% | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| New Party Daichi | no district candidates | 433,122 | 0.62% | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Center-left opposition (resulting DPJ–SDP–PNP coalition & parliamentary allies) |
35,802,866 | 50.73% | 228 | 35,032,019 | 49.78% | 92 | 320 | 193 | 194 | |
| Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) | 27,301,982 | 38.68% | 64 | 18,810,217 | 26.73% | 55 | 119 | 181 | 177 | |
| New Komeito Party (NKP) | 782,984 | 1.11% | 0 | 8,054,007 | 11.45% | 21 | 21 | 10 | 10 | |
| Japan Renaissance Party | 36,650 | 0.05% | 0 | 58,141 | 0.08% | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Ruling LDP–NKP coalition & parliamentary allies | 28,121,613 | 39.84% | 64 | 26,922,365 | 38.26% | 76 | 140 | 192 | 187 | |
| Japanese Communist Party (JCP) | 2,978,354 | 4.22% | 0 | 4,943,886 | 7.03% | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | |
| Your Party (YP) | 615,244 | 0.87% | 2 | 3,005,199 | 4.27% | 3 | 5 | 1 | 5 | |
| Others | 1,077,543 | 1.53% | 0 | 466,786[11] | 0.66% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Independents[12] | 1,986,056 | 2.81% | 6 | – | 6 | 0 | 12 | |||
| Totals | 70,581,680 | 100.00% | 300 | 70,370,255 | 100.00% | 180 | 480 | 2 (vacant seats) |
0 | |
| Turnout | 69.28% | 69.27% | – | |||||||
| Parties | Prefectural constituency vote | National PR vote | Elected in 2007 | Not up | Total seats | +/−[14] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes[15] | % | Seats | Votes[16] | % | Seats | ||||||
| Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Jiyū Minshutō | 18,606,193 | 31.35 | 23 | 16,544,696 | 28.1 | 14 | 37 | 46 | 83 | 27 | |
| New Komeito Party (NKP) Kōmeitō | 3,534,672 | 5.96 | 2 | 7,762,324 | 13.2 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 20 | 3 | |
| Ruling centre-right coalition | 22,140,865 | 37.31 | 25 | 24,307,020 | 41.3 | 21 | 46 | 57 | 103 | 30 | |
| Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) Minshutō | 24,006,817.693 | 40.45 | 40 | 23,256,242 | 39.5 | 20 | 60 | 49 | 109 | 28 | |
| Social Democratic Party (SDP) Shakai Minshutō | 1,352,018 | 2.28 | 0 | 2,637,716 | 4.5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | |
| People's New Party (PNP) Kokumin Shintō | 1,111,005 | 1.87 | 1 | 1,269,220 | 2.2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | |
| New Party Nippon (NPN) Shintō Nippon | – | 1,770,697 | 3.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Centre-left opposition | 26,469,840.693 | 44.60 | 41 | 28,933,875 | 49.1 | 24 | 65 | 54 | 119 | 28 | |
| Japanese Communist Party (JCP) Nihon Kyōsantō | 5,164,572.184 | 8.70 | 0 | 4,407,937 | 7.5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 2 | |
| Others | 477,182.472 | 0.80 | 0 | 1,264,841 | 2.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Independents[17] | 5,095,168.460 | 8.59 | 7 | – | 7 | 6 | 13 | 6 | |||
| Total | 59,347,628.809 | 100.00 | 73 | 58,913,700 | 100.00 | 48 | 121 | 121 | 242 | 2 (vacancies) |
|
| Turnout[18] | 58.64% | 58.63% | – | ||||||||
In the 1980s, apportionment of electoral districts still reflected the distribution of the population in the years following World War II, when only one-third of the people lived in urban areas and two thirds lived in rural areas. In the next forty-five years, the population became more than three-quarters urban, as people deserted rural communities to seek economic opportunities in Tokyo and other large cities. The lack of reapportionment led to a serious underrepresentation of urban voters. Urban districts in the House of Representatives were increased by five in 1964, bringing nineteen new representatives to the lower house; in 1975 six more urban districts were established, with a total of twenty new representatives allocated to them and to other urban districts. Yet great inequities remained between urban and rural voters.
In the early 1980s, as many as five times the votes were needed to elect a representative from an urban district compared with those needed for a rural district. Similar disparities existed in the prefectural constituencies of the House of Councillors. The Supreme Court had ruled on several occasions that the imbalance violated the constitutional principle of one person-one vote. The Supreme Court mandated the addition of eight representatives to urban districts and the removal of seven from rural districts in 1986. Several lower house districts' boundaries were redrawn. Yet the disparity was still as much as three urban votes to one rural vote.
After the 1986 change, the average number of persons per lower house representative was 236,424. However, the figure varied from 427,761 persons per representative in the fourth district of Kanagawa Prefecture, which contains the large city of Yokohama, to 142,932 persons in the third district of largely rural and mountainous Nagano Prefecture.
The 1993 reform government under Hosokawa Morihiro introduce a new electoral system whereby 200 members (reduced to 180 beginning with the 2000 election) are elected by proportional representation in multi-member districts or "blocs" while 300 are elected from single-candidate districts.
Still, according to the October 6, 2006 issue of the Japanese newspaper Daily Yomiuri, "the Supreme Court followed legal precedent in ruling Wednesday that the House of Councillors election in 2004 was held in a constitutionally sound way despite a 5.13-fold disparity in the weight of votes between the nation's most densely and most sparsely populated electoral districts".
The 2009 general election was the first unconstitutional lower house election under the current electoral system introduced in 1994 (parallel voting and "small" FPTP single-member electoral districts/"Kakumander"). In March 2011, the Grand Bench (daihōtei) of the Supreme Court ruled that the maximum discrepancy of 2.30 in voting weight between the Kōchi 3 and Chiba 4 constituencies in the 2009 election was in violation of the constitutionally guaranteed equality of all voters. As in previous such rulings on unconstitutional elections (1972, 1980, 1983 and 1990 Representatives elections, 1992 Councillors election), the election is not invalidated, but the imbalance has to be corrected by the Diet through redistricting and/or reapportionment of seats between prefectures.[19]
The following table is based on the 2009 Elections, using the 103,949,442 Registered Electors, the voter turn out at prefecture level and the detailed district votes. It involves a maximum to minimum ratio of 2.92, above from the aforementioned court ruling due to the variability of participation within prefectures between districts.
| District | Population |
|---|---|
| AICHI 1 | 305235 |
| AICHI 2 | 330471 |
| AICHI 3 | 335494 |
| AICHI 4 | 306189 |
| AICHI 5 | 346324 |
| AICHI 6 | 386564 |
| AICHI 7 | 404129 |
| AICHI 8 | 389862 |
| AICHI 9 | 392616 |
| AICHI 10 | 385300 |
| AICHI 11 | 375862 |
| AICHI 12 | 443544 |
| AICHI 13 | 390399 |
| AICHI 14 | 261809 |
| AICHI 15 | 325967 |
| AKITA 1 | 262050 |
| AKITA 2 | 321543 |
| AKITA 3 | 397060 |
| AOMORI 1 | 310339 |
| AOMORI 2 | 218583 |
| AOMORI 3 | 248275 |
| AOMORI 4 | 291593 |
| CHIBA 1 | 373994 |
| CHIBA 2 | 400122 |
| CHIBA 3 | 300181 |
| CHIBA 4 | 449199 |
| CHIBA 5 | 381031 |
| CHIBA 6 | 325738 |
| CHIBA 7 | 380587 |
| CHIBA 8 | 385379 |
| CHIBA 9 | 372993 |
| CHIBA 10 | 340961 |
| CHIBA 11 | 349380 |
| CHIBA 12 | 375789 |
| CHIBA 13 | 307660 |
| EHIME 1 | 365854 |
| EHIME 2 | 297521 |
| EHIME 3 | 254040 |
| EHIME 4 | 252121 |
| FUKUI 1 | 210985 |
| FUKUI 2 | 214862 |
| FUKUI 3 | 212203 |
| FUKUOKA 1 | 321275 |
| FUKUOKA 2 | 384014 |
| FUKUOKA 3 | 370385 |
| FUKUOKA 4 | 317391 |
| FUKUOKA 5 | 383802 |
| FUKUOKA 6 | 360216 |
| FUKUOKA 7 | 319870 |
| FUKUOKA 8 | 365040 |
| FUKUOKA 9 | 354147 |
| FUKUOKA 10 | 352423 |
| FUKUOKA 11 | 254317 |
| FUKUSHIMA 1 | 461475 |
| FUKUSHIMA 2 | 362868 |
| FUKUSHIMA 3 | 320538 |
| FUKUSHIMA 4 | 274561 |
| FUKUSHIMA 5 | 339956 |
| GIFU 1 | 332581 |
| GIFU 2 | 324068 |
| GIFU 3 | 427505 |
| GIFU 4 | 398024 |
| GIFU 5 | 314153 |
| GUNMA 1 | 369957 |
| GUNMA 2 | 301116 |
| GUNMA 3 | 292612 |
| GUNMA 4 | 289538 |
| GUNMA 5 | 311378 |
| HIROSHIMA 1 | 304219 |
| HIROSHIMA 2 | 399582 |
| HIROSHIMA 3 | 355707 |
| HIROSHIMA 4 | 307291 |
| HIROSHIMA 5 | 295780 |
| HIROSHIMA 6 | 344143 |
| HIROSHIMA 7 | 375673 |
| HOKKAIDO 1 | 519946 |
| HOKKAIDO 2 | 469661 |
| HOKKAIDO 3 | 470952 |
| HOKKAIDO 4 | 352310 |
| HOKKAIDO 5 | 523544 |
| HOKKAIDO 6 | 488877 |
| HOKKAIDO 7 | 310504 |
| HOKKAIDO 8 | 421148 |
| HOKKAIDO 9 | 467794 |
| HOKKAIDO 10 | 392718 |
| HOKKAIDO 11 | 338387 |
| HOKKAIDO 12 | 373835 |
| HYOGO 1 | 344236 |
| HYOGO 2 | 342223 |
| HYOGO 3 | 308437 |
| HYOGO 4 | 416672 |
| HYOGO 5 | 390864 |
| HYOGO 6 | 468520 |
| HYOGO 7 | 452081 |
| HYOGO 8 | 379175 |
| HYOGO 9 | 340684 |
| HYOGO 10 | 343450 |
| HYOGO 11 | 358846 |
| HYOGO 12 | 332086 |
| IBARAKI 1 | 387608 |
| IBARAKI 2 | 341514 |
| IBARAKI 3 | 376628 |
| IBARAKI 4 | 300820 |
| IBARAKI 5 | 219486 |
| IBARAKI 6 | 398464 |
| IBARAKI 7 | 309589 |
| ISHIKAWA 1 | 348168 |
| ISHIKAWA 2 | 335120 |
| ISHIKAWA 3 | 275320 |
| IWATE 1 | 261913 |
| IWATE 2 | 287570 |
| IWATE 3 | 248280 |
| IWATE 4 | 290191 |
| KAGAWA 1 | 277166 |
| KAGAWA 2 | 253863 |
| KAGAWA 3 | 223745 |
| KAGOSHIMA 1 | 297623 |
| KAGOSHIMA 2 | 276428 |
| KAGOSHIMA 3 | 256128 |
| KAGOSHIMA 4 | 261333 |
| KAGOSHIMA 5 | 241833 |
| KANAGAWA 1 | 378436 |
| KANAGAWA 2 | 382716 |
| KANAGAWA 3 | 349603 |
| KANAGAWA 4 | 315735 |
| KANAGAWA 5 | 413191 |
| KANAGAWA 6 | 343724 |
| KANAGAWA 7 | 369643 |
| KANAGAWA 8 | 352655 |
| KANAGAWA 9 | 269462 |
| KANAGAWA 10 | 417822 |
| KANAGAWA 11 | 359629 |
| KANAGAWA 12 | 324213 |
| KANAGAWA 13 | 403199 |
| KANAGAWA 14 | 383000 |
| KANAGAWA 15 | 413205 |
| KANAGAWA 16 | 383887 |
| KANAGAWA 17 | 393595 |
| KANAGAWA 18 | 303938 |
| KOCHI 1 | 178960 |
| KOCHI 2 | 186847 |
| KOCHI 3 | 199103 |
| KUMAMOTO 1 | 338261 |
| KUMAMOTO 2 | 284765 |
| KUMAMOTO 3 | 273092 |
| KUMAMOTO 4 | 286428 |
| KUMAMOTO 5 | 244871 |
| KYOTO 1 | 347333 |
| KYOTO 2 | 248377 |
| KYOTO 3 | 315260 |
| KYOTO 4 | 376253 |
| KYOTO 5 | 267133 |
| KYOTO 6 | 433227 |
| MIE 1 | 317720 |
| MIE 2 | 321336 |
| MIE 3 | 346109 |
| MIE 4 | 250611 |
| MIE 5 | 302864 |
| MIYAGI 1 | 353949 |
| MIYAGI 2 | 370934 |
| MIYAGI 3 | 272805 |
| MIYAGI 4 | 312902 |
| MIYAGI 5 | 211032 |
| MIYAGI 6 | 218662 |
| MIYAZAKI 1 | 320382 |
| MIYAZAKI 2 | 299778 |
| MIYAZAKI 3 | 276819 |
| NAGANO 1 | 462003 |
| NAGANO 2 | 416224 |
| NAGANO 3 | 427730 |
| NAGANO 4 | 276881 |
| NAGANO 5 | 335380 |
| NAGASAKI 1 | 349085 |
| NAGASAKI 2 | 358680 |
| NAGASAKI 3 | 239225 |
| NAGASAKI 4 | 291458 |
| NARA 1 | 297231 |
| NARA 2 | 312722 |
| NARA 3 | 305355 |
| NARA 4 | 287479 |
| NIIGATA 1 | 393880 |
| NIIGATA 2 | 328348 |
| NIIGATA 3 | 328267 |
| NIIGATA 4 | 322680 |
| NIIGATA 5 | 293894 |
| NIIGATA 6 | 315558 |
| OITA 1 | 335180 |
| OITA 2 | 312117 |
| OITA 3 | 330714 |
| OKAYAMA 1 | 303445 |
| OKAYAMA 2 | 257452 |
| OKAYAMA 3 | 273178 |
| OKAYAMA 4 | 312792 |
| OKAYAMA 5 | 263088 |
| OKINAWA 1 | 210911 |
| OKINAWA 2 | 212547 |
| OKINAWA 3 | 233703 |
| OKINAWA 4 | 209096 |
| OSAKA 1 | 335299 |
| OSAKA 2 | 334069 |
| OSAKA 3 | 357360 |
| OSAKA 4 | 388528 |
| OSAKA 5 | 378035 |
| OSAKA 6 | 367429 |
| OSAKA 7 | 344554 |
| OSAKA 8 | 314093 |
| OSAKA 9 | 430036 |
| OSAKA 10 | 316453 |
| OSAKA 11 | 381971 |
| OSAKA 12 | 326300 |
| OSAKA 13 | 361650 |
| OSAKA 14 | 412277 |
| OSAKA 15 | 385328 |
| OSAKA 16 | 305057 |
| OSAKA 17 | 313309 |
| OSAKA 18 | 397162 |
| OSAKA 19 | 289233 |
| SAGA 1 | 250593 |
| SAGA 2 | 241645 |
| SAGA 3 | 232224 |
| SAITAMA 1 | 374929 |
| SAITAMA 2 | 392274 |
| SAITAMA 3 | 388572 |
| SAITAMA 4 | 311007 |
| SAITAMA 5 | 308263 |
| SAITAMA 6 | 385468 |
| SAITAMA 7 | 361386 |
| SAITAMA 8 | 325386 |
| SAITAMA 9 | 371143 |
| SAITAMA 10 | 192159 |
| SAITAMA 11 | 337022 |
| SAITAMA 12 | 338071 |
| SAITAMA 13 | 329659 |
| SAITAMA 14 | 356010 |
| SAITAMA 15 | 322630 |
| SHIGA 1 | 309285 |
| SHIGA 2 | 256846 |
| SHIGA 3 | 242541 |
| SHIGA 4 | 284598 |
| SHIMANE 1 | 304932 |
| SHIMANE 2 | 350516 |
| SHIZUOKA 1 | 360577 |
| SHIZUOKA 2 | 399142 |
| SHIZUOKA 3 | 378657 |
| SHIZUOKA 4 | 319621 |
| SHIZUOKA 5 | 440353 |
| SHIZUOKA 6 | 419130 |
| SHIZUOKA 7 | 350330 |
| SHIZUOKA 8 | 356377 |
| TOCHIGI 1 | 399225 |
| TOCHIGI 2 | 270405 |
| TOCHIGI 3 | 221163 |
| TOCHIGI 4 | 402139 |
| TOCHIGI 5 | 290238 |
| TOKUSHIMA 1 | 198440 |
| TOKUSHIMA 2 | 226532 |
| TOKUSHIMA 3 | 224798 |
| TOKYO 1 | 400920 |
| TOKYO 2 | 366063 |
| TOKYO 3 | 422791 |
| TOKYO 4 | 359437 |
| TOKYO 5 | 400759 |
| TOKYO 6 | 416984 |
| TOKYO 7 | 369400 |
| TOKYO 8 | 398024 |
| TOKYO 9 | 399697 |
| TOKYO 10 | 301001 |
| TOKYO 11 | 373544 |
| TOKYO 12 | 354070 |
| TOKYO 13 | 344171 |
| TOKYO 14 | 311877 |
| TOKYO 15 | 334248 |
| TOKYO 16 | 365474 |
| TOKYO 17 | 363395 |
| TOKYO 18 | 370434 |
| TOKYO 19 | 417345 |
| TOKYO 20 | 358554 |
| TOKYO 21 | 333123 |
| TOKYO 22 | 412771 |
| TOKYO 23 | 417059 |
| TOKYO 24 | 405310 |
| TOKYO 25 | 272460 |
| TOTTORI 1 | 266943 |
| TOTTORI 2 | 239179 |
| TOYAMA 1 | 252194 |
| TOYAMA 2 | 254880 |
| TOYAMA 3 | 407798 |
| WAKAYAMA 1 | 286967 |
| WAKAYAMA 2 | 228247 |
| WAKAYAMA 3 | 312362 |
| YAMAGATA 1 | 332420 |
| YAMAGATA 2 | 367208 |
| YAMAGATA 3 | 332175 |
| YAMAGUCHI 1 | 348754 |
| YAMAGUCHI 2 | 318362 |
| YAMAGUCHI 3 | 269477 |
| YAMAGUCHI 4 | 264175 |
| YAMANASHI 1 | 233469 |
| YAMANASHI 2 | 273951 |
| YAMANASHI 3 | 277180 |
Prefectural parliaments and governors, as well as mayors and assemblies in municipalities are elected for four-year terms. Many of these elections are held at the same time in the "unified local elections" (tōitsu chihō senkyo); in the last unified local election on April 6, 2007, 13 governors, 44 prefectural parliaments and mayors or assemblies in more than 1,000 cities, special wards, towns and villages were up for election.[20]
Votes in national and most local elections are cast by writing the candidate's or party's name on a blank ballot paper. In elections for the House of Representatives voters fill in two ballots, one with the name of their preferred district candidate and one with their preferred party in the proportional representation block. For the House of Councillors, the district vote is similar (In SNTV multi-member districts, several candidates can be elected, but every voter has only one vote). But in the proportional vote for the House of Councillors votes are cast for a party list (to determine how many proportional seats a party receives) or a candidate (which additionally influences which candidates are elected from a party's list).
Ballots that cannot unambiguously be assigned to a candidate are not considered invalid, but are proportionally assigned to all potentially intended candidates. These so-called "proportional fractional votes" (按分票, ambunhyō) are rounded to the third decimal.[21]
In 2002, passage of an electronic voting law[22] allowed for the introduction of electronic voting machines in local elections.[23] The first machine vote took place in Niimi, Okayama in June 2002.[24] In 2003, a system for early voting (期日前投票制度, kijitsu-mae tōhyō seido) was introduced.[25] In the Japanese general election, 2009 a record number of more than 10 million Japanese voted early.[26]
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||