［December 2014］
Election management in Japan

Electoral systems vary from country to country. For example, in Japan it is totally a voter’s right to decide whether to cast a ballot or not, and local governments play an important role in election management.

This weekend, on 14 December, a national election for the House of Representatives will be held. During the election period, Japanese local government staff, especially Municipal Election Management Committee staff members, will very likely be busy.

Before the election, they have to prepare voting lists which are based on the resident registration system. In Japan, people who live in a municipality must be registered as a municipal resident. Then, local government staff deliver voting tickets to all the voters in their municipalities.

On the day of election – almost always a Sunday – they prepare polling stations in places such as schools and public halls. After the balloting hours (In Japan from 7: 00 am to 8:00 pm), they count ballots together with pre-poll votes usually until midnight.

I still remember when I was a staff member of the Central Election Management Council and worked hard with local government election committee staff members for the 1996 national election.