Toshikazu Sugaya, 62, who was believed wrongfully convicted of killing a 4-year-old girl in 1990 in Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture, will not be able to vote in the Aug. 30 general poll because a local election committee upheld its decision to bar him from casting a ballot, his lawyers said Friday.
The defense team filed the objection Tuesday. Sugaya, who was freed from prison in June based on a new DNA test that appeared to refute an earlier one that led to his conviction, is expected to be acquitted of the murder in a retrial sometime later this year.
His lawyers said, however, they will not sue to try to get the committee to retract its Thursday rejection of his objection, based on Sugaya's wishes and because of the little time left before election day.
Under the public office election law, people convicted of a crime are not eligible to vote until they complete their sentence.