Sharp increase in early voting with election held on 3-day weekend
Around 2 million more voters have cast early ballots for the July 20 Upper House election that is widely expected to deal a major setback to the already shaky ruling coalition.
A total of 9,885,919 voters around Japan cast early ballots over the 10-day period from July 4, the day after the official start of the campaign, according to the internal affairs ministry. That was about a 27-percent increase over 2022 when early ballots were cast by 7,786,793 voters over an 11-day period.
The increase might lead to a higher turnout for the election, which will be a crucial factor since voting will be held midway through a three-day weekend. July 21 is Marine Day, a national holiday.
Internal affairs ministry officials said this will be the first time for a national election to be held in the middle of a three-day weekend since 1952, when it started keeping such records.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has said his goal for the election is for the coalition of his Liberal Democratic Party and junior partner Komeito to maintain an Upper House majority.
But public opinion surveys suggest the ruling coalition will fall short of that goal.
One hundred and twenty-five seats will be contested. To maintain its majority, the ruling coalition will need to win a combined 50 seats or more.
The ruling coalition lost its majority in the Lower House after the autumn 2024 election and was forced to solicit the support of some opposition parties to pass the budget and other important legislation.
Management of Diet affairs will become even more difficult if the ruling coalition loses its Upper House majority.
Key issues during the election campaign included dealing with the soaring cost of living and tariff negotiations with the United States.
While the ruling coalition has argued for making a token cash payment to households to help with higher prices, the opposition has called for tax cuts, especially the consumption tax, now at 10 percent.
Tougher policies against foreigners residing in Japan has also emerged as a major issue.
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