1976 Japanese general election

Japanese general election, 1976

5 December 1976
All 511 seats to the House of Representatives of Japan 256 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party      JSP    Leader Takeo Miki Tomomi Narita Party Liberal Democratic Socialist Last election 271 seats 118 seats Seats won 249 123 Seat change -22 +5 Popular vote 23,653,626 11,713,009 Percentage 41.8 20.7%
Prime Minister before election Takeo Miki Liberal Democratic Prime Minister Takeo Miki Liberal Democratic

General elections were held in Japan on 5 December 1976. The result was a victory for the Liberal Democratic Party, which won 249 of the 511 seats, but the election was overshadowed by the Lockheed bribery scandals and became popularly known as the Lockheed Election (ロッキード選挙, rokkīdo senkyo). As a result of the scandals, the LDP lost 22 seats, mainly to the Komeitō Party, and lost its majority control over the House of Representatives. However, the LDP still remained the largest party in the House of Representatives. Voter turnout was 73.45%.

The 1976 election was the only post-war general election triggered by an expiration of the term of the House of Representatives; all other post-war elections have been instigated by a dissolution of the House by the Cabinet.

Results

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/-
Liberal Democratic Party	23,653,626	41.8	249	-22
Japan Socialist Party	11,713,009	20.7	123	+5
Komeitō	6,177,300	10.9	55	+26
Japanese Communist Party	5,878,192	10.4	17	-21
Democratic Socialist Party	3,554,076	6.3	29	+10
New Liberal Party	2,363,985	4.2	17	+17
Other parties	45,114	0.1	0	-2
Independents	3,227,463	5.7	21	+7
Total	56,612,765	100	511	+20
Source: http://www.stat.go.jp/data/chouki/27.htm

Vote share LDP   41.78% JSP   20.69% KP   10.91% JCP   10.38% DSP   6.28% NLC   4.18% Independents   5.70% Others   0.08%

Parliament seats LDP   48.73% JSP   24.07% KP   10.76% DSP   5.68% JCP   3.33% NLC   3.33% Independents   4.11%