Yuko Oshima beats Atsuko Maeda in AKB48 election

The results of this year’s “senbatsu” election for AKB48’s next single were announced on Wednesday. In an unexpected outcome, top member Atsuko Maeda (who was #1 last year) had to settle for second place, as Yuko Oshima edged her out to claim the top spot.

Voting started on May 25 and ended on June 8. All members of AKB48, SKE48, and the kenkyuusei teams were eligible for the election. However, only the top 21 members will be featured on the upcoming single (to be released on August 18), while the next 19 members (#22 – #40) will perform the single’s coupling song as the “under girls.”

Maeda was expected to be #1 again, especially after leading on the first day. After the first week, she was ahead of Oshima by about 1,500 votes. However, Oshima surged in the past week to receive a total of 31,448 votes, while Maeda ended at 30,851 votes.

The top 40 members are:
Yuko Oshima (31448)
Atsuko Maeda (30851)
Mariko Shinoda (23139)
Tomomi Itano (20513)
Mayu Watanabe (20088)
Minami Takahashi (17787)
Haruna Kojima (16231)
Yuki Kashiwagi (15466)
Sae Miyazawa (12560)
Jurina Matsui (12168)
Rena Matsui (12082)
Tomomi Kasai (11080)
Aki Takajo (11062)
Minami Minegishi (9692)
Erena Ono (9468)
Rie Kitahara (8836)
Sayaka Akimoto (8049)
Amina Sato (6921)
Rino Sashihara (6704)
Haruka Nakagawa (6567)
Miho Miyazaki (6371)
Aika Ohta (6145)
Asuka Kuramochi (5355)
Masana Oya (4634)
Yuka Masuda (4137)
Natsumi Hirajima (4106)
Haruka Ishida (3235)
Haruka Shimazaki (3076)
Moeno Nito (2693)
Mika Komori (2613)
Sumire Sato (2591)
Ayaka Umeda (2499)
Reina Fujie (2460)
Rumi Yonezawa (2171)
Akane Takayanagi (2030)
Suzuran Yamauchi (1945)
Haruka Katayama (1935)
Kumi Yagami (1909)
Natsumi Matsubara (1854)
Atsuki Ishiguro (1604)
(UPDATE: Vote counts have been filled in)

Source:
Oricon