Electoral Law Amendment and Bicameral Parliament

proportional representation system: The election will be the first national race in which 18- and 19-year-olds are able to vote after an electoral law amendment lowering the minimum age from 20 took effect Sunday, according to The Japan Times. About 2.4 million young people are newly eligible to vote. Half of the 242 seats in the Upper House of the bicameral parliament are up for grabs in the July 10 election. 225 people had registered to run in constituencies and 164 through the proportional representation system as of midday Wednesday, for a total of 389 declared candidates. It was the first such change to election rules since 1946, when women gained suffrage and the voting age was lowered from 25. The prime minister recently postponed for a second time a planned increase in the national sales tax because of the economy fragility, a move some speculate was politically driven. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Liberal Democratic Party and junior partner Komeito aim not just to maintain their majority in the chamber, but to together win at least half of the contested seats, which would be taken as signifying voters' continued faith in Abe. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.