The 2026 Nomination and Election Committee (NEC) of Democrats Abroad Japan (DAJ) is proud to call a special election for current vacancies, and call upon our membership to submit their nominations for the 2026 DAJ Special Election. The call for nominations is for the following positions:
DA Japan National Secretary
DA Japan Legal Counsel
DA Japan Member-at-Large, Kyushu-Shikoku-Okinawa
DA Japan Member-at-Large, Hokkaido
The election schedule is as follows:
- April 1st Nominations open
- May 13th Nomination period ends
- May 16th Voting begins
- May 31st Ballot counting
If you are interested in holding an officer position, you must fulfill the following requirements in order to qualify:
- Be a member in good standing pursuant to Article III of the By-Laws of Democrats Abroad Japan. You can confirm your membership by signing into democratsabroad.org and going to “Account Settings”.
- Not be completing a 2nd consecutive term for the office in question, as per the term limits set out in our by-laws pursuant to Article X, Section 1: “No National, or Chapter Officer, nor any Members-at-Large can serve more than two (2) consecutive terms in the same position.”
Roles for each position can be found in the DA Japan bylaws
Nomination Procedure
In order to join the election process, members may nominate themselves or another member by sending an e-mail to dajnecofficial[at]gmail.com (replace [at] with @) no later than 11:59pm JST on May 13th, 2026. All nomination emails should include the following:
- Complete name of the person nominated.
- Contact information including phone number and email address.
- Name of the nominated position.
Distribution of Ballots
Ballots will be distributed electronically on Saturday, May 16th, 2026. A link to the ballot will also be available on the DAJ Special Election Website.
Voter Eligibility
In order to vote, you must be a DAJ member in good standing. Voters casting a ballot for a Member-at-Large candidate must live in the corresponding region.
Sincerely yours,
2026 Democrats Abroad Special Election NEC
Raymond K. Terhune (Chair)
Thomas Larkin (Vice Chair)
Sofia Pardue (Secretary)
Eric Gondree
Jacob Kidd