I calculated the vote threshold for the 300,000 yen deposit in a municipal city council election

I have checked my bank balance three times already.

300,000 yen. It is only a six-digit number, but when I think about actually depositing it, my hand holding the bankbook feels a little heavy. It is money I have saved up bit by bit while working as a company employee, like skipping a can of coffee on my days off.

I am putting it into a box with a name I had never spoken until this age: a "deposit."

Will it come back? Or will it not?

Even when I look it up, I still do not quite understand what it means for "my case."

I am holding onto 300,000 yen without being able to consult anyone.

Since I decided to run, the money part is what makes me feel the most insecure.

If it were about policy, I could write it down in a notebook alone in the middle of the night. I can figure out where to stand for street speeches by staring at a map. But the deposit is the only thing I cannot find an answer to, even when I think about it at my desk.

"If you do not get a certain number of votes, it will be confiscated."

That one phrase I heard somewhere remains in my head, so I type into the search bar, "So, what is that certain number of votes?" But all that comes up is, "For a city council member, it is 300,000 yen," and the conversation ends there.

I know the amount. That is not what I want to know.

How many votes do I need to get in my city to get my deposit back?

Maybe I should ask a senior incumbent. But asking someone I am about to compete against for a seat in the same council, "Will the deposit actually be returned?" feels like showing how shallow my resolve is, so I cannot bring myself to say it.

I cannot tell the people who are supporting me either.

"At worst, the 300,000 yen might not come back."

There is no way I could say that in front of the people who are backing me.

It is the same at home. Even if I brought it up by saying, "There is this thing called a deposit," I cannot explain what comes after the amount. It is because I do not understand the conditions for its return myself. I cannot tell my family "it will be fine" when I do not know myself.

In the end, I vaguely brush it off and scroll through my smartphone alone in the middle of the night.

And to make matters worse, there is a sense that the money going out is not just the deposit. Posters, flyers, photos, an office. I hear the names, but the total amount and what part of that might be covered by public funds is completely shrouded in fog.

Only the 300,000 yen stands out clearly, and everything around it is blurred. That is why that 300,000 yen looks even bigger than it actually is.

Many of you will likely relate to this.

It is not so much that money is scary, but rather the fear of 'not knowing how much it costs or what needs to be done by when.'

The real problem is not the weight of the 300,000 yen.

I want to make this point clear.

The true nature of the anxiety you feel as a first-time candidate is not just that 300,000 yen is expensive. It is that no one tells you directly how much you need, under what conditions it is returned, or what the threshold is for your specific city. That number is something no one will tell you.

The amount of the deposit, the formula for the forfeiture threshold, and the overall picture of election costs are all things that only come into view once you become a participant. Moreover, participants find it difficult to ask each other about these things.

That is why information remains conspicuously absent, while emotions alone swell up.

It is scary because it is invisible.

Conversely, most of the anxiety surrounding the deposit is of the kind that can be 'foreseen if you calculate it.'

You are just bracing yourself against a vague fog; once you plug the numbers into the formula, your specific threshold will appear before you as a single number.

You do not need to understand the election perfectly. First, just open the box called the deposit with nothing more than a calculator.

SENTAI—A tool to monitor 'one-time procedures' by their deadlines

Before that, let me introduce one thing.

Procedures that only occur once during an election, such as deposits and contract notifications regarding public funding, are actually the easiest to miss.

Unlike street campaigning which you do every day, the deadline for these is a one-time event, so you think you have kept it in the back of your mind, only to forget it entirely. If you miss a single notification, you may find yourself unable to use systems that should have been available to you.

SENTAI is a cloud-based workspace for local assembly members and prospective candidates.

With 'Election Preparation Countdown,' you can list preparation tasks with deadlines based on the official announcement date and election day, and manage your progress. It is a feature designed to track one-time election procedures, such as deposits and public funding contract notifications, through a list rather than memory.

Please note that SENTAI does not provide legal advice. Always confirm deadlines, required documents, and eligibility for public funding with the Election Administration Commission, the deposit office, or a professional.

▶ See SENTAI's election preparation features
https://www.poli-sentai.com/

That said, before leaving it to a tool, it is most reassuring to calculate the numbers for your own election by hand at least once.

From here on, I will talk about calculations you can do with just a calculator.

Deposit amounts are determined by the type of election—first, a list of amounts

The amount of the deposit is determined by law based on "which election you are running in," not by your personality or the political situation.

I will list the main ones.

One supplementary note.

Town and village council elections previously did not require a deposit. Due to a system revision, 150,000 yen has been required since 2020.

There may be memories in the community that "it wasn't needed when my parents ran," but now a deposit is required even for town and village council elections.

If you are aiming for a city council in a general city other than a government-designated city, the deposit is 300,000 yen.

The part to worry about is not the amount, but the following "forfeiture threshold."

Calculation formula for the forfeiture threshold—finding the numbers for your city

In local assembly elections, the dividing line for whether a deposit is forfeited is determined by the following formula.

However, this is primarily a standard for candidates who lose the election. The deposits of winning candidates are subject to refund.

Even if you lose, if your vote count is at or above the deposit forfeiture threshold, your deposit is subject to refund. Conversely, if you do not win and your vote count does not reach this point, your deposit will be forfeited.

It looks difficult when written out, so let's try plugging in some actual numbers.

For example, consider a city with 24 council seats and a total of 60,000 valid votes in that election.

• 60,000 votes ÷ 24 seats = 2,500 votes

• 2,500 votes ÷ 10 = 250 votes

In this city, the deposit forfeiture threshold is 250 votes.

Even if you lose, if you receive 250 votes or more, your deposit will be subject to refund.

In a city council election with 24 seats, considering that the threshold for winning is in the thousands of votes, the figure of 250 votes is "far from winning, but well within reach to avoid forfeiture."

Just knowing this should significantly change your perception of the risks involved.

To try this for your own city, you only need two numbers.

• Number of council seats

• Total number of valid votes in the previous city council election

Both can be confirmed in the election results published by the local election administration commission.

If voter turnout increases, the total number of valid votes will also increase, raising the forfeiture threshold. It is safer to calculate based on the previous figures and allow for some margin in case turnout is higher than expected.

Note that the formula for executive elections, such as mayoral elections, is different.

Since it is not divided by the number of seats, the hurdle is higher than in council elections.

When to pay and when it is returned

The order is as follows.

In principle, the deposit is made at a deposit office. Generally, Legal Affairs Bureaus or District Legal Affairs Bureaus serve as deposit offices.

The election administration commission is the body to which you submit candidacy registration documents. The deposit office is where you deposit the money.

Remembering that these are two separate procedures will prevent panic on the day.

Deposits can be made in cash or with securities specified by law. Be sure to confirm the specific methods and required documents with the election administration commission's pre-briefing materials and the deposit office.

When registering your candidacy, you must submit a document proving that the deposit has been made.

In other words, you cannot say "I will make the deposit now" at the counter on the day of the official announcement. You must complete the procedure in advance to be in time for the candidacy registration.

And then, the return.

Even if your deposit is eligible for return, it will not be automatically returned to your account. After the election, you must perform a withdrawal request procedure at the deposit office.

In local elections, you must file a claim 14 days after the election date, accompanied by documents such as a certificate of extinction of the cause for deposit from the election administrator.

If you assume it will be returned automatically, you might end up leaving it deposited. Once the election is over, you should plan to check the results and also confirm the procedures for reclaiming the deposit.

The true fear of "not being able to read the votes"

Looking at the numbers, the forfeiture threshold for a city council election is often much lower than the winning threshold.

Even so, it is nerve-wracking for a first-time candidate.

Why?

Because you cannot read the votes.

As a first-time candidate, you cannot get a real sense of how many votes your support will translate into until the very end.

The number of people who said "I'll support you" and the number of people who actually go to the polling station sadly do not match.

Unless you keep a record of who is supporting you and how seriously, you won't be able to see "how many votes you have" even in the middle of the campaign.

You reach election day without any sense of progress, and when the results are in, they are far below your expectations.

To avoid such a situation, the tedious work of recording each person you meet is just as effective as calculating the deposit.

Know the threshold number and keep the spread of your support visible as you work toward that number.

This becomes a realistic breakwater to protect your 300,000 yen.

Money that goes out before the official announcement, "outside" of the deposit

Finally, I will touch upon another anxiety that remained in the fog.

The 300,000 yen deposit is merely money temporarily held during the election. It can be returned if the requirements are met.

Rather, what you should be more careful about is the money that quietly goes out before the official announcement.

• Printed materials used for political activities
  Support group leaflets, business cards, posters for political activities, etc. Costs are incurred in advance for activities to "get known" before the official announcement.

• Photography costs
  The portrait photo used for posters and flyers. Since it is a single image that influences impressions, you should budget for shooting and retouching costs.

• Actual costs related to filing
  Fees for obtaining documents required for candidacy, such as an abstract of the family register. Even if the amount is small, these are needed at the last minute.

On the other hand, election campaign posters, flyers, and campaign vehicles may be subject to **publicly funded election campaigns (public expense coverage)** depending on local government ordinances.

However, the eligible expense items, maximum amounts, deadlines for contract notifications, and billing procedures vary by local government.

Furthermore, if the candidate does not reach the deposit forfeiture threshold, there are expenses that are not covered by public funds and must be borne by the candidate themselves.

It is risky to plan your budget just by hearing that "it seems to be covered by public funds."

You should definitely check the following four items in the materials provided at the briefing for prospective candidates.

• Eligible expense items for public funding

• Maximum amounts

• Deadlines for submitting contract notifications

• Scope of personal liability if below the forfeiture threshold

Deposits, printed materials, and contract notifications for public funding.

When you list them like this, there are quite a few "one-time" procedures related to money.

Put them into your schedule one by one so you don't miss anything.

It may seem mundane, but this is what will best protect your savings.

For those who do not want to rely solely on memory for "one-time procedures" like deposits and public funding contract notifications.

With Sentai, you can organize your election preparation tasks with deadlines and manage them in the same place as your voter lists and daily activities. First, try registering your next election date to visualize your preparation items.

▶ See details on features and pricing
https://www.poli-sentai.com/

▶ Start for free until the end of August 2026
https://poli-sentai.com/login

Registration takes about 3 minutes. There is 0 yen initial cost, no credit card registration required, and it is 5,000 yen (excluding tax) per month for all features included.

Please be sure to check with the Election Administration Commission, the deposit office, or a professional for final decisions regarding the Public Offices Election Act and procedures.

Sources and verification

• Public Offices Election Act (e-Gov)
  Deposit amount: Article 92 / Forfeiture of deposit: Article 93

• Ministry of Justice 'Deposit Q&A'
  Procedures for claiming the return of election deposits

#LocalCouncilor #LegislativeActivities #CityCouncilElection #Deposit #ElectionPreparation