Yomiuri: Voter turnout at 52%

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:44 JST, July 10, 2022

The voter turnout for the 26th House of Councillors election on Sunday was around 52%, according to The Yomiuri Shimbun’s tally. This is higher than the 48.80% in the previous poll in 2019, which was the second-lowest on record.

The official figure is expected to reach the 50% level for the first time in two elections.

Voter turnout for an upper house election marked a record 74.54% in 1980 when a House of Representatives election was held on the same day. However, it has since been on a downward trend, hitting its lowest point of 44.52% in 1995.

Institutional reforms have been implemented to improve turnout, such as introducing early voting and lowering the voting age to 18, but it has never exceeded 60% since the 1990s and is still hovering at a low level.