Elections

How House of Representatives Elections Work; Explaining Proportional Representation, Revival Victory

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
The vote counting in Asahi Ward, Osaka, during the House of Representatives election in October 2021.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:45 JST, October 16, 2024

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has dissolved the House of Representatives, and the election campaign kicked off on Tuesday.

Voting and ballot counting will take place on Oct. 27.

This is how the election works.

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- Question: What is the format?

Answer: Seats in House of Representatives elections can be obtained through a combination of two different systems. Of the Diet’s 465 seats, 289 are made up of single-seat constituencies and the remaining 176 are allocated according to the percentage of votes cast for each political party, a system known as proportional representation.

At a polling station, a voter is given two ballots to fill in. On one, they choose one of the candidates standing for the single-seat constituency in which they live. On the other, they select a political party for the proportional representation section.

The system was introduced in the 1996 lower house election, and the current election marks the 10th time it has been used.

- Q: How are candidates elected?

A: In a single-seat constituency race, the candidate who receives the most votes wins and becomes the sole representative of that district.

Under the proportional representation system, the proportion of the 176 Diet seats that a party receives is based on its overall share of votes. Each party gives the seats it obtains under this system to its top candidates who have not won a single-seat constituency race, based on a ranking established prior to the election.

- Q: What is a revival victory?

A: Candidates of national political parties can generally run in both sections. Therefore, even if a candidate loses their single-seat constituency race, they can still become a member of the Diet if elected through the proportional representation system.

One of the aims of the system is to reflect in national politics the public will of the people who voted for a candidate who lost their single-seat constituency race. However, there is deep-rooted criticism against a defeated candidate being able to be elected, on the grounds that it allows for the “resurrection of the loser.”