| Legal Framework |
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| Electoral Law | 15 April 1950 Last amendment: 5 August 2015 |
| Mode of designation | directly elected 242 |
| Constituencies | - 45 multi-member constituencies (between two and 12 seats each) for a total of 146 seats: 43 formed on a metropolitan or prefectural basis; and two other constituencies covering two prefectures each. - one national constituency for the remaining 96 seats At each election, 121 seats are renewed based on the following constituencies: - 32 single-seat constituencies - 13 multi-member constituencies (between two and six seats each) for 41 seats - one national constituency for the remaining 48 seats Candidates are not allowed to run in more than one type of constutuency at a time. |
| Voting system | Mixed: - 73 chosen by simple majority system in geographical constituencies; successful candidates are decided in the order of the number of valid votes obtained on the basis of the comparative plurality. However, they should receive votes which is equal to or more than one-sixth of the quotient divided the total of valid ballots cast by the number of seats to be filled from the constituency concerned. - 48 elected by proportional representation system, from a single constituency covering the whole country, in accordance with the d'Hondt method. Vacancies arising between regular elections are filled by the "next-in-line" candidate of the same party on a list of candidates under the proportional representation system. In the case of the geographical constituency system, a vacancy occurring within three months after the election is filled by the candidates who obtained the statutory number of votes and did not become elected. A by-election is held in other cases or if a certain number of seats become vacant in the same constituency. Voting is not compulsory. |
| Voter requirements | - age: 18 years* - Japanese citizenship *On 4 and 17 June 2015 respectively, the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors adopted a bill to amend the Public Offices Election Act, which includes a provision to lower the voting age from 20 to 18 years old. The Act was promulgated by the Cabinet on 19 June 2015 and will be applied to national elections the start of whose campaign period is announced one year after that date (i.e., any election with a campaign period announced after 20 June 2016 and whose polling day falls after 7 July 2016). Disqualifications: - Persons recognised as a ward of the court by a family court; - Persons sentenced to imprisonment or a more severe form of punishment and who have not completed their sentences; - Persons sentenced to imprisonment or to a more severe form of punishment for an electoral offence, and who are given suspended sentences; - Persons who, during their tenure as public office holders, have been convicted of bribery. This disqualification is valid during the term of the sentence and for five years thereafter. |
| Candidates |
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| Eligibility | Qualified electors - age: 30 years - Japanese citizenship Disqualifications: - Persons recognised as a ward of the court by a family court; - Persons sentenced to imprisonment or a more severe form of punishment and who have not completed their sentences; - Persons sentenced to imprisonment or to a more severe form of punishment for an electoral offence, and who are given suspended sentences; - Persons who, during their tenure as public office holders, have been convicted of bribery. This disqualification is valid during the term of the sentence and for ten years thereafter. |
| Incompatibilities | - holders of official post in the Government or in local public entities. However, Prime Minister, Ministers of State, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretaries, Aides to the Prime Minister, Vice-Ministers, Parliamentary Secretaries can stand for the House of Councillors (and a Councillor may, during his or her term of office, be appointed as such a post). - executive or staff member of a public corporation |
| Candidacy requirements | - deposit of 3,000,000 yen if running in geographical constituencies. Deposit is reimbursed if the candidate obtains at least one-eighth of the number resulting from the division of valid votes by seats in the constituency concerned - for any poitical party or group, deposit of 6,000,000 yen multiplied by the number of candidates registered on its list under the proportional representation system. Deposit is reimbursed if the result obtained by doubling the number of those elected from a party or group list is at least equal to the number of candidates on this same list. A political party has to meet one of the following conditions: (1) to have a minimum of five MPs in the Diet (i.e. both lower and upper houses), or (2) to have obtained a minimum of two per cent of votes either in the single-member-constituencies or in the proportional representation system in the most recent election. |