Tokyo, Japan: How Does the Vote Work?

After two weeks of debates and campaign events across Japan, the nine candidates and other LDP lawmakers will gather on Friday at the party headquarters in Tokyo to vote for the new party leader.

Since the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) holds a majority in parliament, the winner will automatically become Japan’s next prime minister.

In the first round, LDP lawmakers will cast 368 votes, with an equal number of votes allocated to rank-and-file members, who convened on Thursday. In 2021, the LDP had 1.13 million registered members, according to its website.

If a candidate wins a simple majority, they will become the new party leader. However, if no one achieves a majority, a run-off between the top two candidates will take place.

In the second round, each lawmaker again casts one vote, but the rank-and-file votes are reduced to just 47, with one vote per prefecture.

In the rare case of a tie, the winner will be determined by drawing lots, though this has never occurred in a leadership race. It did happen once in 2010 to select the LDP upper house caucus chair.

After the Party Vote

Following the vote, Prime Minister Kishida and his ministers are expected to resign, likely on Monday. Parliament will then convene to formally appoint the new LDP leader as prime minister, who will then form a new cabinet and appoint key party officials.

There is a possibility the new prime minister could call a snap general election to secure a national mandate. One leading candidate, Shinjiro Koizumi, has expressed his intent to do so, with reports suggesting elections could take place as early as October 27.