Ineligible Young Voters

The coming election of House of Councillors on July 10^th will be the first chance for 18 and 19 agers to vote in national election. They are mostly hopeful for participating in politics, which sometimes determines their future. However, some students will not be able to vote for any of the candidates. In the case that a college student who lives away from parents, leaving her/his residential registration at parent’s house, will be refused. An old law excludes some young voters from democracy.

As in other countries like United States, it is not unusual for a student enters a college away from her/his parents and lives in a dormitory around the college. Such students are financially dependent on their parents. For students, their life must be focused on study, not earning tuition through part time job. Although they get back home in summer or winter recess, it is fair to say that their main life is in their school, not parents’ home.

Public Officers Election Act determines that a voter who does not actually live in the electoral district cannot vote there and the local government can research whether the voters have actual record of residence. While it is up to each election committee whether or not to exercise the research, small towns tend to make it. After some local governments made detailed research on young voters, they found a certain number of voters who were not eligible.

One solution is voting absentee ballot. An eligible voter who is away from home for long business trip or vacation can exercise the right for absentee ballot before the election day. However, some local governments reject such absentee balloting with reason that Supreme Court formerly made a decision to determine the address of a student in the place of the dormitory. Actual decision is left on each local government.

Voting right has to be respected as one of the important human rights. As long as the right cannot be guaranteed without exercising it, local governments must make every effort to let the young voters vote. When they regulate that right, there has to be an indispensable reason. Japanese citizens in foreign country can vote for every election at each embassy.

Lowering age for eligible voters was quickly introduced with political intention to make constitutional amendment easier or legitimate. Lawmakers of the leading parties thought that voting age of national election should be the same as that of referendum for the amendment. They were too hasty to check whole system of laws in Japan. That short hand caused inequality under law.