Electronic voting is drawing renewed interest from Japanese local governments after successful trials in two elections. Shijonawate in Osaka Prefecture used electronic machines for its mayoral election and assembly by-election in December 2024. Shintomi in Miyazaki Prefecture also used an electronic system for its March 1 assembly by-election. No issues were reported in either election.
The Shintomi election demonstrated the speed of electronic voting. Workers completed vote counting for 3,603 ballots in just 22 minutes. Including handwritten absentee ballots and verification, the entire process took 42 minutes. This was about 40 minutes shorter than usual.
Electronic voting has been allowed for local elections since February 2002. A local government must establish an ordinance before introducing the system. However, an issue arose in Kani, Gifu Prefecture in 2003. Vote-counting servers overheated, preventing people from casting votes. The Supreme Court later ruled that election invalid, making local governments hesitant to use electronic system.
Twenty-five elections at ten local governments used electronic systems after 2002. But then came an eight-year hiatus. The central government revised its guidelines in 2020, allowing the use of tablets. This change prompted the resumption of electronic voting trials.
Kyocera Corp produced the tablets for the Shintomi election. The company ensured the vote-counting server and voting terminals did not connect to the internet. Instead, USB flash drives and memory devices stored voting data and were physically transported to the counting venue. Kyocera also held practice sessions for voters and created manuals for polling station staff.
The company acknowledges that visually impaired people have difficulties using the voting system. Kyocera said it will explore ways to improve its terminals for accessibility.
Cost remains the biggest obstacle for wider adoption. Shijonawate’s 2020 elections cost about 16.6 million yen. The 2024 elections using electronic voting cost about 66.8 million yen, a fourfold increase. Shintomi’s previous elections cost about 8 million yen. The electronic election cost 11.53 million yen. Some of the cost will be covered by government tax allocation, but the town must bear the rest.
Electronic voting eliminates problems associated with handwritten ballots. Illegible writing or invalid marks are no longer an issue. However, the significant cost increase deters many local governments. If more municipalities adopt electronic voting, costs would likely decrease due to economies of scale. But currently, the financial hurdle remains high.
Electronic voting is gaining traction in Japan after successful trials in Shijonawate and Shintomi. The system counts votes faster and avoids handwritten ballot errors. However, cost remains a major barrier. Shijonawate’s electronic voting cost four times more than traditional methods. Kyocera has addressed technical concerns by keeping voting systems offline, but accessibility for visually impaired voters still needs improvement. The 2027 unified local elections will test whether more municipalities adopt electronic voting despite the cost concerns.
