Expected low voter turnout during Japan's Upper House election
CGTN
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(Photo: CGTN)

The Upper House election in Japan never had a good voter turnout and that's, partially , because the Lower House election usually is a decisive political moment for the country.

The election is every three years, with half of its members running for six year-term. This format makes it hard for it to have a significant impact on the political balance unless substantial issues are hanging on its result.

Moreover, many of the voters are tired of the same election slogans that the ruling and opposition blocks have been debating in the last several elections.

Economic recovery and social welfare were two of the most used words in the recent elections, both for the Upper and Lower houses. It inspires little voting interest for the young generations.

The points of the debate lie on how much they can contribute to support the growing elderlies while their future is unclear with the fast diminishing population.

However, the upcoming Upper House election has a strong significance to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. It could determine the fate of his long-held ambition to amend the postwar pacifist Constitution.

124 seats are up for grabs in this year’s election, out of a total of 245 seats in the Upper House. Shinzo Abe has declared a modest 53 to maintain the ruling party majority in the parliament, together with Liberal Democratic Party’s junior partner, the Komeito Party.

However, experts say Abe is eyeing to win 85 seats between the ruling coalition, the LDP and Komeito, and Japan Innovation Party which support constitution revision.

One hundred sixty-four seats secure the two-third majority Abe needs to initiate a constitutional amendment. 

Experts expect the ruling parties to hold a majority in the chamber as low voter turnout always works in favor of the ruling parties, with massive organizational votes.

Heavy rain is expected to hit western Japan on Sunday, and authorities say it may affect the voter turnout.