Society

Japan to test online voting for overseas citizens

Jul 20 (Japan Times) - The internal affairs ministry will test online voting for Japanese citizens living abroad in an effort to raise voter turnout among such people in elections.

The ministry will conduct the test after Sundayâ€™s House of Councilors election with a goal of introducing it as early as the next Upper House poll in 2022, officials said.

Eligible voters will be able to enter the voting page using electronic devices by verifying their identity through registered My Number identification cards.

To protect privacy, voting data will be sent encrypted to Japan, and personal information attached to the data will be deleted when votes are counted. Voting data left on voter devices will also be deleted.

An expert panel set up by the ministry proposed the introduction of online voting in August last year to address low voter turnout, at around 20 percent, among Japanese citizens overseas.

The low rates are believed to reflect a shorter voting period due to the need to send votes to Japan as well as the need to go to diplomatic missions where polling stations are set up.

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