The July 10 Upper House election will welcome some 2.4 million people aged 18 and 19 to the electorate as the minimum voting age has been lowered from 20. Whether these new voters will make much of an impact on the outcome of the race is unclear. They make up a mere 2 percent of the nation's 106 million eligible voters, and turnout has been notoriously low among young people in recent national elections. Younger citizens need to realize that policies affecting their own futures will be determined by the outcome of the elections, so they should make their voices count.
The first lowering of the minimum voting age since it was changed from 25 to 20 in 1945 comes just as a declining portion of younger voters are going to the polls. In the 2014 Lower House general election, turnout among those in their 20s was 32.58 percent — far below the national average of 52.66 percent (the lowest ever in itself) and less than half the 68.27 percent for voters in their 60s. The situation is little different in Upper House elections, with a turnout of 33.37 percent among voters in their 20s in the last 2013 race trailing far short of the overall rate of 52.61 percent and 67.56 percent for those in their 60s.
Turnout has historically tended for be lower for younger voters even as the average across generations rises and falls. With the rapid aging of the population, older generations now account for a larger proportion of the electorate, and the sluggish turnout among young people suggests their votes will account for even smaller portion of the total than the demographics dictate.