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1902 Japanese general election

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1902 Japanese general election

← 1898 (Sep) 10 August 1902 1903 →

All 376 seats to the House of Representatives
189 seats were needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader Itō Hirobumi Ōkuma Shigenobu
Party Rikken Seiyūkai Kensei Hontō
Last election  –  –
Seats won 191 95
Seat change  –  –
Popular vote 433,763 220,939
Percentage 50.4% 25.7%

Prime Minister before election

Katsura Tarō
Independent

Subsequent Prime Minister

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 50.4 191 New
Kensei Hontō 220,939 25.7 95 New
Teikokutō 37,749 4.4 17 New
Jinin Kai 35,950 4.2 28 New
Dōshi Club 24,541 2.9 13 New
Others 107,678 12.5 32
Invalid/blank votes 8,098
Total 868,768 100 376 +76
Registered voters/turnout 982,868 88.4
Source: Mackie & Rose, Voice Japan

References

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