A civic group in Aichi Prefecture on Tuesday submitted to the prefectural government a demand signed by more than 310,000 registered voters to have a referendum held on the central and local governments' plan to host the 2005 World Exposition there.
The group, headed by Ken Kageyama, a professor emeritus at Aichi University of Education, presented the books of signatures to Aichi Gov. Masaaki Kanda, legally obliging the prefectural assembly to discuss whether to hold a referendum.
The assembly is scheduled to discuss the demand in a session today.
The referendum would ask voters if they support the prefecture's hosting of the expo but would be nonbinding.