Early Voting Begins for Japan’s 2024 House of Representatives Election; System Becoming More Widely Used Since Introduction in 2005

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:48 JST, October 16, 2024

Early voting for the House of Representatives election and the national review for Justices of the Supreme Court began on Wednesday.

The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry and municipalities are urging people to take advantage of early voting, as they expect many people will be traveling due to the autumn season and have made plans for Oct. 27, the day of the election.

The early voting system can be used by those who cannot vote on the day of the election due to work, travel, leisure, weddings, funerals or other prior commitments. In the last lower house election in 2021, voter turnout was 55.93%, but the percentage of early voters was 19.54%.

Of the 58.9 million voters, about 35% have used the early voting system, and the number of users has been increasing since it was introduced in 2005.

In the last election, 5,940 early voting locations were set up nationwide. The location of polling stations have become more diverse and includes universities, shopping centers and other areas that are easily accessible, as well as public facilities, such as municipal office buildings, train stations.

In principle, early voting takes place through Oct. 26, and doors open from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., although the hours may vary depending on the location.

In Suginami Ward, Tokyo, a polling station was set up in a conference room at the ward office from 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday.

Due to the short preparation time, the standard voting tickets featuring unique barcodes were not issued in time in the ward. As voters on Wednesday did not have their barcodes, their names were confirmed using another form of identification before being given their ballots.