Elections

Upper House Election: Early Voting Hits All-Time High; Record Number of Polling Stations Also Available

The Yomiuri Shimbun
A voter casts their ballot at an early polling station in Koshu, Yamanashi Prefecture, on Wednesday.

The Japan News

21:40 JST, July 20, 2025

A record high of about 26 million voters cast their ballots early for the House of Councillors election, according to a report released Sunday by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry.

Early voting took place from July 4 — the day after the official start of campaigning — to Saturday.

According to the ministry, the number of early voters over this 16-day period was 26,181,865, or 25.12% of all registered voters on the electoral roll. That is up by 6.44 percentage points from 18.68% of voters in the 2022 upper house election.

Early voting has continued to increase since the system was introduced. With a record-breaking 6,905 polling stations available, early voting was more convenient than ever in the latest election. However, it has not directly led to an increase in voter turnout.

This year’s election coincided with the start of summer vacation, so many people were expected to be traveling to family homes or taking leisure trips elsewhere. For this reason, the ministry and local election administration commissions encouraged early voting.