On May 6, DP International Department Director-General Yukihisa
Fujita and Vice Director-General Hiroe Makiyama, on a visit to the
United States, engaged in discussions with members of the Japanese
community in New York and Japanese Overseas Voters (JOV) New
York.
At the start
of his opening address, Fujita thanked participants for coming, and
reported on the DP’s founding at the end of March. He
explained that he had called in the Diet for changes to be made in
the way that Japanese voters overseas are registered in order to
increase the turnout among overseas voters, due to the fact that
under the current system, approximately 90% of such voters are
required to vote at Japanese diplomatic missions, and that the
turnout is showing a downward trend. He also stated that the
DP would be considering ways to improve such issues in the
future.
Makiyama
spoke of her experiences in serving as chair of of the Special
Committee on Political Ethics and Election Law and the current
situation regarding the reduction in the voting age to 18 years of
age. She also talked about the efforts being made by various
countries in increasing voter turnout.
Participants
made comments or asked questions regarding such issues as the
possibility of realizing online voting, and discussions currently
underway in the study group that has been established in the
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, and a lively
exchange of opinions took place. Moreover, a specific
suggestion for speeding up the registration process for overseas
voters was made and Fujita said that he would work toward the
realization of such proposals.
