This year, the unified local elections held once every four years will be held in April, and nine prefectural governor elections such as the Osaka governor election and 41 prefectural assembly member elections are scheduled.
On the other hand, the "unification rate", which indicates the percentage of elections held in unified local elections, is on a downward trend and is expected to fall below 30% this time as well.
Although there are no plans for a nationwide national election this year, a unified local election will be held once every four years, with voting scheduled for April 9th in the first half and April 23rd in the second half.
In the first half, 9 prefectural gubernatorial elections and 6 ordinance-designated city mayoral elections were held, including the Osaka gubernatorial election and the Osaka mayoral election, and 41 prefectural assembly elections and 17 ordinance-designated city municipal assembly elections. Elections are also scheduled.
In the latter half of the year, approximately 900 municipal mayoral elections and municipal assembly elections are scheduled outside of ordinance-designated cities.
The unified local election is the 20th time since it started in 1947, but the ``unification rate'', which indicates the percentage of elections held, is on the decline.
Since 2007, it has fallen below 30% four times in a row, and is expected to fall below 30% this time as well.
Yuu Uchiyama, a professor at the University of Tokyo who is well versed in Japanese politics, said, "If the 'unification rate' falls below 30%, the original purpose of increasing voter interest and cutting costs will not be realized. Discussion of the merits and demerits of unification is necessary. It is."
On the other hand, by-elections are expected to be held on April 23 at the earliest in the 5th ward of the House of Representatives in Chiba and the 4th ward in Yamaguchi. It is also noteworthy that it affects