Japan’s Election Turnout Third Lowest in Postwar Era

The turnout in Japan’s October 31 House of Representatives election, in which the Liberal Democratic Party retained a strong majority, was 55.93%, with 56.06% of men voting and 55.80% of women.

In the 2005 election, when Prime Minister Koizumi Jun’ichirō sought a mandate for privatization of postal services, the turnout was 67.51%, while it was 69.28% in 2009, when the Democratic Party of Japan achieved a historic change of government. However, in 2012 and 2014 it dropped to 59.32% and 52.66%, respectively, setting consecutive records for the lowest postwar turnout. The 2021 turnout was 2.25 points higher than the 53.68% for 2017, making it the third lowest.

By prefecture the highest turnout was in Yamagata, with 64.34%, and the lowest in Yamaguchi, with 49.67%. The greatest increase was in the Nippon Ishin no Kai heartland of Osaka, up 7.81 points to 56.2%. Elsewhere in Kansai, there were rises of 5.67 points in Hyōgo, 5.42 in Kyoto, 5.28 in Wakayama, and 3.47 in Nara. The greatest decrease was the drop of 5.56 points in Yamaguchi.

(Originally published in Japanese. Banner image © Pixta.)