Summary 

Before 1996, Japanese residing overseas were not able to vote for all kinds of elections in Japan. Plaintiffs in this case filed a case against the government in November 1996 claiming that the lack of voting rights for Japanese nationals overseas violates the Constitution. As a result, the election law was revised in 1998 and courts confirmed the plaintiff’s claim.

Arguments and Decision 

The plaintiffs argued that the fact that Japanese nationals residing overseas who are eligible voters cannot vote in the constituency elections for Congress representatives violates the Constitution of Japan. 

More specifically, the lack of voting rights for overseas Japanese violates the equal protection clause in Article 14 (1), the voting rights for public servants under Articles 15 (1) and (3), as well as the right to elections of congress members under Articles 43 and 44. 

In addition to asking the court to confirm the unconstitutionality of the current situation, the plaintiffs also requested for a compensation of 50,000 Japanese yen for each plaintiff for not being able to vote in the 42nd election for the house of representatives in 1996.

Eventually, the court ruled for the plaintiffs, confirmed the unconstitutionality and ordered a compensation of 5,000 for each plaintiff. Congress also revised the PUblic Offices Election Act in 1998 to provide voting rights to eligible voters residing overseas according to the court decision. 

Use of fund 

The litigation has already finished, and the crowdfunding campaign has already ended. The funds are used to support the Japan Civil Liberties Union (JCLU), who played an essential role in supporting this litigation. For more information about JCLU, please see http://jclu.org/english/.