1902 Japanese general election

1902 Japanese general election

10 August 1902
All 376 seats in the House of Representatives 189 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Itō Hirobumi Ōkuma Shigenobu Party Rikken Seiyūkai Kensei Hontō Seats won 191 95 Popular vote 433,763 220,989 Percentage 50.40% 25.68%
Prime Minister before election Katsura Tarō Independent Prime Minister after election Katsura Tarō Independent

General elections were held in Japan on 10 August 1902.[1] The result was a victory for the Rikken Seiyūkai party, which won 191 of the 376 seats.

Electoral system

Electoral reforms in 1900 had abolished the 253 single and two-member constituencies. The 376 members of the House of Representatives were now elected in 51 multi-member constituencies based on prefectures and cities.[2]

Voting remained restricted to men aged over 25 who paid at least 10 yen a year in direct taxation, although 1900 electoral reforms had reduced the figure from 15 yen, increasing the proportion of the population able to vote from 1% to 2%.[2]

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Rikken Seiyūkai	433,763	50.40	191	New
	Kensei Hontō	220,989	25.68	95	New
	Teikokutō	37,749	4.39	17	New
	Jinin Kai	35,950	4.18	28	New
	Dōshi Club	24,541	2.85	13	New
	Others	107,678	12.51	32	–
Total		860,670	100.00	376	+76
Valid votes		860,670	99.07
Invalid/blank votes		8,098	0.93
Total votes		868,768	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		982,868	88.39
Source: Mackie & Rose, Voice Japan

References

1. Thomas T Mackie & Richard Rose (1991) The International Almanac of Electoral History, Macmillan, p281
2. Mackie & Rose, p276