4.56 million people vote early for Lower House election

The number of people who cast early ballots for the upcoming Lower House election totaled 4,562,823 between Wednesday and Sunday of last week, accounting for 4.41% of all registered voters, the internal affairs ministry said Monday.

The number of early voters for the Feb. 8 election fell by 2.54% from 4.68 million over the same period in the previous 2024 election for the all-important lower chamber of the Diet, Japan’s parliament.

Heavy snow is believed to have contributed to the sluggish numbers in certain regions. Early voting figures fell in Hokkaido, the Tohoku region and the Hokuriku region.

Toyama Prefecture in Hokuriku posted a decline of 30.68%, while Aomori Prefecture logged a drop of 26.41%. Tottori Prefecture experienced the largest decrease, at 42.5%.

Meanwhile, Gifu Prefecture recorded the largest increase, at 28.60%, followed by Nara Prefecture at 22.95%.

Despite the short campaign and delays in sending out admission cards for polling stations, there was no significant decline in early voting. A ministry official attributed this to the spread of information that people can vote without such cards.