THE LOWER HOUSE IS DISSOLVED:
Elections to Be Held October 20

SEPTEMBER 27, 1996

The Constitution stipulates that an election be held within 40 days of the lower house's dissolution. Immediately after the dissolution, therefore, a special cabinet meeting was called, at which the date of the balloting was officially set for October 20, with the formal filing of candidacy being held on October 8.

First Election Under New System
The upcoming election will be the first under the system combining single-seat constituencies and proportional representation, replacing the medium-sized districts of two to six seats employed in earlier elections. The last election was held in July 1993.

The number of lower house seats will be cut from 511 to 500, moreover, with 300 being elected from single-seat districts and the remaining 200 from 11 regional blocs based on voting for a political party, rather than a candidate.

The candidate capturing the most votes will be elected in the single-seat districts, while the 200 proportional-representation seats will be allocated by bloc to the parties in accordance with the votes they receive; each party will assign seats in descending order of a list of candidates prepared prior to the voting.

Those nominated by political parties may run from single-seat districts while also being included on the list of proportional-representation candidates. Even if they lose the single-seat race, therefore, they may still win a seat if listed high enough on the list.