Sekihairitsu
Encyclopedia
The is a method used in the proportional representation
(PR) constituencies ("blocks") for the Japanese House of Representatives
to determine the order of candidates placed on the same list position by their party.
Under the PR system introduced in the 1996 general election for 180 (initially 200) of the House of Representatives' 480 (initially 500) seats, political parties are free to nominate candidates running or not running concurrently in one of the 300 single-member first-past-the-post electoral districts. The parties may rank the PR list candidates they nominate in a regional "block" in any order they decide. However, they are allowed to (but don't have to) place some or all of the PR candidates concurrently running in a single-member district on the same position on their PR list. In that case, the sekihairitsu is used to determine the order of candidates. It is calculated by dividing the number of votes a candidate received in his electoral district by the district winner's votes. After all district winners are struck from the list – they already have won a seat and thus cannot be elected by PR – all remaining candidates put on the same list rank are then arranged according to their sekihairitsu in descending order.
While the sekihairitsu system allows – depending on a party's nomination strategy and electoral success – more successful candidates (those "narrowly losing" their districts) prioritized election by PR, it does not change the fact that the Japanese voting system is a parallel
, i.e. non-compensatory voting system: The number of PR seats for a party is independent from the results in the single-member districts and is exclusively determined by the number of PR votes the party receives. And unlike the Open list
proportional voting system used since 2001 in elections for the House of Councillors of Japan where voters may choose to cast a preference vote for a single PR candidate, the sekihairitsu system doesn't allow the voters any direct influence on the PR candidates elected.
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
(PR) constituencies ("blocks") for the Japanese House of Representatives
House of Representatives of Japan
The is the lower house of the Diet of Japan. The House of Councillors of Japan is the upper house.The House of Representatives has 480 members, elected for a four-year term. Of these, 180 members are elected from 11 multi-member constituencies by a party-list system of proportional representation,...
to determine the order of candidates placed on the same list position by their party.
Under the PR system introduced in the 1996 general election for 180 (initially 200) of the House of Representatives' 480 (initially 500) seats, political parties are free to nominate candidates running or not running concurrently in one of the 300 single-member first-past-the-post electoral districts. The parties may rank the PR list candidates they nominate in a regional "block" in any order they decide. However, they are allowed to (but don't have to) place some or all of the PR candidates concurrently running in a single-member district on the same position on their PR list. In that case, the sekihairitsu is used to determine the order of candidates. It is calculated by dividing the number of votes a candidate received in his electoral district by the district winner's votes. After all district winners are struck from the list – they already have won a seat and thus cannot be elected by PR – all remaining candidates put on the same list rank are then arranged according to their sekihairitsu in descending order.
While the sekihairitsu system allows – depending on a party's nomination strategy and electoral success – more successful candidates (those "narrowly losing" their districts) prioritized election by PR, it does not change the fact that the Japanese voting system is a parallel
Parallel voting
Parallel voting describes a mixed voting system where voters in effect participate in two separate elections for a single chamber using different systems, and where the results in one election have little or no impact on the results of the other...
, i.e. non-compensatory voting system: The number of PR seats for a party is independent from the results in the single-member districts and is exclusively determined by the number of PR votes the party receives. And unlike the Open list
Open list
Open list describes any variant of party-list proportional representation where voters have at least some influence on the order in which a party's candidates are elected...
proportional voting system used since 2001 in elections for the House of Councillors of Japan where voters may choose to cast a preference vote for a single PR candidate, the sekihairitsu system doesn't allow the voters any direct influence on the PR candidates elected.