2019 Japanese House of Councillors election

2019 Japanese House of Councillors election

July 21, 2019

124 of the 245 seats in the House of Councillors
123 seats needed for a majority
Turnout48.80% (5.90pp; Const. votes)
48.79% (5.90pp; National votes)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Shinzō Abe Yukio Edano Natsuo Yamaguchi
Party LDP CDP Komeito
Last election 121 seats Did not exist 25 seats
Seats won 113 32 28
Seat change 8 New 3
Constituency vote 20,030,331 7,951,430 3,913,359
 % and swing 39.77% (0.17pp) 15.79% (New) 7.77% (0.23pp)
National vote 17,712,373 7,917,720 6,536,336
 % and swing 35.37% (0.54pp) 15.81% (New) 13.05% (0.47pp)

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Yuichiro Tamaki Ichiro Matsui
Toranosuke Katayama
Kazuo Shii
Party DPP Ishin JCP
Last election Did not exist 12 seats 14 seats
Seats won 21 16 13
Seat change New 4 1
Constituency vote 3,256,859 3,664,530 3,710,768
 % and swing 6.47% (New) 7.28% (1.44pp) 7.37% (0.11pp)
National vote 3,481,078 4,907,844 4,483,411
 % and swing 6.95% (New) 9.80% (0.60pp) 8.95% (1.79pp)

Districts and PR districts, shaded according to winners' vote strength

House of Councillors elections were held in Japan on 21 July 2019 to elect 124 of the 245 members of the upper house of the National Diet for a term of six years.

74 members were elected by single non-transferable vote (SNTV)/First-past-the-post (FPTP) voting in 45 multi- and single-member prefectural electoral districts. The nationwide district elected 50 members by D'Hondt proportional representation with optionally open lists, the previous most open list system was modified in 2018 to give parties the option to prioritize certain candidates over the voters' preferences in the proportional election.

The election saw Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling coalition lose the two-thirds majority needed to enact constitutional reform. The Liberal Democratic Party also lost its majority in the House of Councillors, but the LDP maintained control of the House of Councillors with its junior coalition partner Komeito.