UPDATE 4/19: Voting is now open for the 2025 DAJ National Election. Members have two ways to vote:
- Fill out a digital ballot. (f you access the digital ballot link from the email with the subject line "[BALLOT ENCLOSED] DAJ National Election 2025" sent on April 19th, your membership number will be automatically filled in.)
- Print and fill out a PDF ballot, then take a scan or image of the completed ballot and email it to [email protected]
All ballots must be returned by Saturday May 17th at 23:59 Japan time.
--
The Nominations and Election Committee (NEC) for the 2025 Democrats Abroad Japan (DAJ) National Election would like to share important information about the national candidates for the 2025-2027 term, the ballot and voting process, and the ballot counting meeting.
Candidates
Thank you to all members who submitted nominations for national officer candidates for the 2025–2027 term. We are pleased to announce the nominated candidates, along with their candidate statements (where available):
-
National Chair
-
No candidate
-
National Vice Chair
-
Eric Gondree (male)* - read candidate statement here
-
National Secretary
-
No candidate
-
National Treasurer
-
Raymond Kunikane Terhune - read candidate statement here
-
National Counsel
-
No candidate
-
DPCA Voting Representative
-
James Regent - read candidate statement here
-
DPCA Alternate Voting Representative 1
-
James Regent - read candidate statement here
-
DPCA Alternate Voting Representative 2
-
No candidate
-
Member-At-Large for Hokkaido
-
No candidate
-
Member-At-Large for Eastern/Northern Honshu
-
Ian Jason Dizon - read candidate statement here
-
Member-At-Large for Western/Southern Honshu
-
No candidate
-
Member-At-Large for Kyushu/Shikoku/Okinawa
-
No candidate
*Pursuant to Article V, Section 1 of the DAJ Bylaws, “The Chair and Vice-Chair shall not be of the same sex”, the sex of candidates for National Chair/Vice are made public.
During DAJ’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on April 19th, we will have the Meet The Candidates event, where the candidates will give a 1-minute speech and members will be invited to ask questions.
For positions with no candidate (meaning no nomination was made during the nomination period), we welcome write-in candidates. If you would be interested in becoming a write-in candidate and would like to give a 1-minute speech during the AGM, please contact the NEC at [email protected].
Write-in candidates are also welcomed to submit candidate statements. Please send to [email protected]. All candidate statements can be viewed here.
Please note, if any National Executive Committee position (Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, or Counsel) remains unfilled after the election, DAJ may face challenges in operating and could need to hold another election. To help avoid this, please consider becoming a write-in candidate—or encourage another member to do so—regardless of how long you've been involved.
Ballot Information
Ballots will be distributed electronically via email on Saturday, April 19th, following the Annual General Meeting. Please log into your DA account, navigate to your "Account Settings", and ensure you are opted into receiving emails from DA. Ballots will be sent to members via email.
Links to the ballot types are also available on this news post. Members can vote entirely online via a Google form or send a scan or image of the completed ballot to: [email protected].
All ballots must include your Democrats Abroad membership number, address in Japan, and signature in order to be considered valid. You can confirm your membership number by logging into your DA account here: www.democratsabroad.org, and navigating to account settings in your profile.
Members will be able to vote for one candidate per position (either a listed candidate on the ballot or by entering a write-in candidate)
All ballots must be received by Saturday, May 17th, 23:59 Japan Standard Time.
Voter Eligibility
In order to vote, you must be a DAJ member. For Member-At-Large positions, only members residing in those regions may vote for the respective Member-At-Large. Regions are defined as such:
-
Hokkaido: Hokkaido prefecture
-
Eastern/Northern Honshu: Aomori, Iwate, Akita, Miyagi, Yamagata, and Fukushima prefectures
-
Western/Southern Honshu: Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, and Yamaguchi prefectures
-
Kyushu/Shikoku/Okinawa: Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Ōita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kochi, and Okinawa prefectures
Ballot Count Meeting
Ballot counting will occur Sunday, May 18th, 11am. This meeting will be held virtually via Webex and is open to observers. Please join us using theinformation below.
-
Webex link: https://democratsabroad.webex.com/democratsabroad/j.php?MTID=mc4fb5ae860359a71e288ad59315df9e5
-
Meeting number: 23066591896
-
Password: dems
Thank you for your time and attention to the 2025 DAJ National Election. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the NEC at [email protected].
Sincerely,
DAJ National Nominations and Election Committee 2025
Anna Costello, NEC Chair
Celia Mazy, NEC Secretary
Jessica Awanohara