JICA Governance and Peacebuilding Department To conduct elections fairly - Electoral management in Japan: behind the scene of the election -

Elections are the foundation of democracy

JICA is engaged in the capacity development of electoral management bodies in developing countries. To achieve a stable democratic society, elections must be managed fairly with high transparency and credibility.

JICA-Net multimedia-based learning material "Electoral Management in Japan" (external link) was produced mainly for officials who are engaged in electoral management in developing countries, to provide the outline of Japan's election management.

Electoral management behind the scenes of elections

The mock election performed in high school. The ballot box is authentic item used in real elections

As a democratic nation, Japan has developed its own electoral management system in a method that suits it. In the first half, the material introduces each process of electoral management in Japan, such as voter registration, work toward Election Day, voting procedures, counting procedures, and voter education. This election sequence is explained taking Kamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture as an example. It focuses especially on the speedy voting and counting procedures and voter education that are useful for electoral management practices in developing countries. In the second half, as an example of effort for voter education, the material presents an on-site lecture and mock election in high school actually conducted by the Election Commission of Tokyo.

Producing the material, we tried to explain in an easy to understand manner by not only using illustrations, but also showing to viewers the real scenario of election management practice with videos of voting at polling stations and mock elections in high schools.

Used the material in online seminar for overseas

After the completion of the material, we used it in the online seminar "Electoral management in Japan" for Fijian Elections Office, on October 25th, 2021.

The online seminar "Electoral management in Japan" for Fijian Elections Office, on October 25th, 2021.

In the online seminar, more than 15 members of Fijian Elections Office participated.

First, TATSUMI Tomoyuki, JICA international cooperation expert who appears on the video, lectured "Electoral management in Japan" and "Voter education". Then, participants exchanged opinions and discussed mainly the difference of the election system and the electoral management between Fiji and Japan.

We used the material after the online seminar. We recommended participants to watch the material to understand the lecture more deeply.

We also used it as an instruction material for the meeting held before the online seminar with the people involved, and we received many good responses because it showed the actual field of electoral management in Japan very well.

The material could be used in various cases such as a training program and awareness-raising activity

Counting procedures. We do not have usually much opportunities to know about the actual field of the electoral management.

The purpose of producing this material was to be mainly used in JICA Knowledge Co-Creation Programs. Like the previous case of Fiji, it is also expected to be used in online seminar. Moreover, the material is very helpful to voter educations and awareness-raising activities in Japan, because even for us, Japanese people, we do not have much opportunities to know about the actual field of the electoral management in detail. For that reason, the material that includes many videos of the actual field could become a valuable information resource.

In fact, when we screened the material in JICA after the completion, a staff who was a teacher before said, "I would like to use the material in education places."

We really hope the material can be used widely not only in developing countries but also in Japan, as a teaching material and a tool for awareness-raising activities.

MATSUMOTO Shiori
JICA Governance and Peacebuilding Department

*The Material(s) mainly applied

Electoral Management in Japan

This material briefly explains about Electoral Management in Japan i.e. voter registration, polling and counting procedures, and voter education.

Election is the foundation of democracy and must be conducted in fair and transparent manner. There are many countries, however, lacking of skills and experiences of "electoral management" so that the demand for technical cooperation in this field is high. Main purpose of this material is to assist the electoral commissions staff in developing countries to enhance their own electoral management capacity through presenting the overview of Japan's credible electoral management.

• YouTube (external link)