TOKYO: Voter turnout for single-seat constituencies in Sunday’s general election in Japan stood at 53.85 percent, the third lowest in post-World War II history, according to internal affairs ministry data released Monday.

The figure was down 2.08 percentage points from 55.93 percent in the previous election for the House of Representatives, the all-important lower chamber of parliament, in 2021. The postwar low of 52.66 percent was marked in the 2014 Lower House poll.

By prefecture, the highest voter turnout in Sunday’s election was 60.82 percent in Yamagata, northeastern Japan, and the lowest was 48.40 percent in Hiroshima, western Japan. Voter turnout stood at 54.30 percent among men and 53.42 percent among women.

Some experts believe that the sluggish readings reflected delays in work by regional election boards to send out poll cards to voters due to the short interval between the Oct. 9 Lower House dissolution and the Oct. 15 start of the official campaign period for the election, as well as voters’ falling interest in politics mainly because of the high-profile slush funds scandal at the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Normally, low voter turnout tends to benefit political parties with organizational power. This time, however, the LDP and its coalition partner, Komeito, struggled in Sunday’s election despite having powerful support bases.

Lower House voter turnout fell below 60 percent for the first time in the 1996 election after continuing to move above that mark since the end of the war.

Voter turnout recovered to 69.28 percent in the 2009 election, in which the now-defunct Democratic Party of Japan seized power from the LDP-Komeito pair, but stood below 60 percent again in the 2012, 2014, 2017 and 2021 elections.

The number of people who cast early votes for single-seat constituencies in Sunday’s general election rose 1.83 percent from the previous 2021 election to 20,955,435, accounting for 20.11 percent of all eligible voters, according to the ministry.

JIJI Press