Japan Press Weekly

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2014 December 24 - 2015 January 6 [POLITICS]

25 million votes ‘wasted’ in general election under single-seat constituency system

In the December 14 general election, more than 25 million votes, or 48% of total votes cast in 295 single-seat constituencies, turned out to be “wasted”, not helping to elect candidates, Akahata on December 24 reported.

Among all the single-winner districts, the rate of “wasted votes” exceeded 60% in two districts. The rate stood at between 50% and 60% in 111 districts and between 40% and 50% in 104 districts.

In 1996, the House of Representatives election system was changed to the current one combining a first-past-the-post single-seat voting system and the proportional representation voting system. FPTP voting is used to elect 295 of the 475 Lower House members and the proportional representation voting is for the remaining 180 members.

Since before the change, the small-seat constituency system, which allows major political parties to occupy 70% or 80% of the seats with only 40% of the votes, has been criticized for distorting voters’ preferences.

The Liberal Democratic Party won 78% of the seats with 48% of the votes in the latest general election and 79% of the seats with 43% of the votes in the previous election two years ago.

The Japanese Communist Party calls for an end to the single-seat constituency system and the reestablishment of an election system centering on the proportional representation system which accurately reflects voters’ preferences.


Past related articles:
> Up to 72% of votes wasted in 2012 national election [March 24, 2013]
> Drastically change election system to reflect voters’ will [December 19, 2012]