electionstracker

Japan 1980 general election

What was the result of the 1980 general election in Japan?

Liberal Democratic Party won 284 of 511 seats with 47.9% of the vote. 74.6% of registered voters cast a ballot.

  • Japan
  • Held:
  • Final result
  • ParlGov, read 5 October 2026

Which party won the most seats?

Final results from ParlGov, read : Liberal Democratic Party won 284 of 511 seats with 47.9% of the vote; 74.6% of registered voters cast a ballot, up 6.6 points on 1979.

  • Liberal Democratic Party 284 +36 seats 47.9% +3.3 points
  • Japan Socialist Party 107 0 seats 19.3% −0.4 points
  • Japanese Communist Party 29 −10 seats 9.8% −0.6 points
  • Komeito 33 −24 seats 9.0% −0.8 points
  • Democratic Socialist Party 32 −3 seats 6.6% −0.2 points
  • New Liberal Club 12 +8 seats 3.0% 0.0 points
  • Socialist Democratic Federation 3 +1 seat 0.7% 0.0 points
  • Seats won
  • Change on the previous election at the right
  • Share of the vote
  • Share at the previous election
  • Change in points at the right

Changes are against the Japan 1979 general election, party by party.

256 of 511 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 47.9%

    Share of the vote won by Liberal Democratic Party

    Liberal Democratic Party won 284 of 511 seats. A majority needs 256.

  2. +36 seats

    Seats gained by Liberal Democratic Party

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1979. Komeito lost 24 seats.

  3. 74.6%

    Voter turnout

    Up 6.6 points on 1979.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Liberal Democratic Party284+3647.9+3.328,262,441
Japan Socialist Party107019.3−0.411,400,747
Japanese Communist Party29−109.8−0.65,803,613
Komeito33−249.0−0.85,329,942
Democratic Socialist Party32−36.6−0.23,896,728
Independents11−83.5−1.42,056,967
New Liberal Club12+83.00.01,766,396
Socialist Democratic Federation3+10.70.0402,832

± is the change against the Japan 1979 general election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Liberal Democratic Party 28,262,441
  • Japan Socialist Party 11,400,747
  • Japanese Communist Party 5,803,613
  • Komeito 5,329,942
  • Democratic Socialist Party 3,896,728
  • Independents 2,056,967
  • New Liberal Club 1,766,396
  • Socialist Democratic Federation 402,832

ParlGov lists parties with at least 1 percent of the vote or 2 seats, so the rows do not add up to the valid votes.

How many people voted?

74.6% of the 80,925,034 registered voters cast a ballot (60,338,440 ballots), up 6.6 points on 1979. 59,028,837 of them were valid votes. The highest turnout since 1958 in our data.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Liberal Democratic Party47.9% of votes55.6% of seats
  • Japan Socialist Party19.3% of votes20.9% of seats
  • Komeito9.0% of votes6.5% of seats
  • Democratic Socialist Party6.6% of votes6.3% of seats
  • Japanese Communist Party9.8% of votes5.7% of seats
  • New Liberal Club3.0% of votes2.3% of seats
  • Socialist Democratic Federation0.7% of votes0.6% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 6.6 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 3.4 by votes and 2.7 by seats; Liberal Democratic Party led Japan Socialist Party by 28.6 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of