Voting underway in crucial Japan elections as Premier Takaichi seeks fresh mandate

​​​​​​​ISTANBUL

Voting is underway across Japan in crucial snap elections to elect the powerful lower house of the parliament as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi seeks a fresh public mandate to advance her economic and security policies, local media reported.

With heavy snowfall feared to affect voter turnout in some areas, voting began at 7 am (2200GMT Saturday), Tokyo-based Kyodo News reported.

More than 104 million registered voters are eligible to vote.

Early voting took place between Jan. 28 and Feb. 7. More than 20 million voters cast ballots during the 10 days.

More than 1,270 candidates are competing for 465 seats in the House of Representatives, in a high-stakes vote that could change Japan’s current political landscape.

A party or coalition needs at least 233 seats to elect a prime minister.

The election covers 289 constituencies, while the remaining 176 seats are allocated across 11 proportional representation blocs.

The polls will close at 8 pm (1100GMT). Counting will start later Sunday.

The lower chamber was dissolved last month by Takaichi to seek a new public mandate for her premiership.

Japan is holding this election in February for the first time in 36 years, a move by Takaichi that has invited criticism because heavy snowfall in several parts of the country made campaigning difficult.

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its allied Japan Innovative Party look set for a big win in the election, with three media polls showing the alliance likely to win 300 of the 465 seats.

The Centrist Reform Alliance (CRA), jointly formed by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP) and Komeito last month, could lose more than half of the 167 seats the two parties held before the election.

Smaller parties such as Sanseito and Team Mirai are gaining ground, all three polls showed, while the Democratic Party for the People (DPP) could end up with about the same number of seats it went into the election with.

A Yomiuri Shimbun poll conducted last week showed that the LDP continued to gain momentum in the final days before Sunday’s election and is poised to grab over 233 seats needed for a simple majority.

Takaichi, who became Japan's first female prime minister last October, has pledged to resign if the coalition fails to secure a majority in the lower house.

Even if the ruling bloc manages to meet its target of securing a majority in the lower house, it still faces hurdles in the House of Councillors, or the upper house, where it remains a minority.

In that case, opposition party support will be critical in passing bills.

The LDP must win at least 310 seats, or two-thirds of the whole, to achieve its long-held goal of amending the Constitution.