Japan prepares for snap election as over 105 million voters head to polls

TOKYO — Japan is set to hold a snap general election on Sunday, aiming to elect lawmakers to the House of Representatives, the 465-seat lower house of parliament known as the National Diet.

With over 45,000 polling stations established nationwide, more than 105 million eligible voters will have the opportunity to cast their ballots.

A record number of more than 1,300 candidates are competing for seats, including 314 women, the highest representation of female candidates in the country’s history.

Voters will use a two-ballot system: one for selecting a candidate in their single-seat constituency and another for choosing a party for proportional representation. Japan is divided into 289 single-seat districts and 11 proportional representation blocs.

To form a government, a party or coalition needs to secure 233 seats for a simple majority. In the previous parliament, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) held 256 seats, while its coalition partner, the Komeito party, accounted for 32 seats.

However, the LDP faces a formidable challenge from the main opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ). Recent polls indicate that the CDPJ, which previously held 98 seats, could gain as many as 140, putting the LDP in a position where forming a coalition with Komeito becomes a necessity rather than a choice.

The Japan Innovation Party, which held 44 seats in the last parliament, and the Japanese Communist Party, with 10 seats, also remain significant players in this election. As the nation prepares to vote, the outcome could reshape Japan’s political landscape and impact its governance in the coming years. — Agencies