Voting closes at 8 p.m. in Japan's House of Representatives general election...The majority of the ruling party is 'tactile'

[Anchor]
The general election vote for the House of Representatives, which will determine the fate of Japan's Shigeru Ishiba's regime, will close in two hours.

It is of utmost concern whether the ruling Liberal Democratic Party can pass the majority, but the outline is expected to be revealed early tomorrow morning.

I'm connecting to the local area in Japan. Correspondent Kim Se-ho!

[Reporter]
Yes. It's Tokyo.

[Anchor]
The deadline for voting in the House of Representatives general election is about 4 hours away, and is it going smoothly?

[Reporter]
Yes. There are less than two hours left until the end of the vote for the Japanese House of Representatives general election, which began at 7 a.m. today.

As of 4 p.m., turnout was 24.32%, 2.46% lower than in the 2021 general election.

In this general election, the ruling and opposition parties will compete for a total of 465 seats, including 289 seats in small constituencies and 176 seats in proportional representation.

Exit polls for each broadcaster will be announced with the end of voting at 8 p.m.

The outline of the election results is expected to be revealed early tomorrow.

Prime Minister Ishiba, who was elected president of the Liberal Democratic Party, dissolved the lower house of parliament eight days after taking office on the 1st and held an early general election.

It is recorded as an early general election and dissolution of the House of Representatives for the shortest period since World War II.

The Liberal Democratic Party's approval rating plummeted uncontrollably due to a factional slush fund scandal in the party at the end of last year.

Prime Minister Ishiba uses expectations from the launch of a new Cabinet to dissolve the House of Representatives and hold a general election,

It seems that the government has softened the public opinion and criticism that have deteriorated so far to some extent and judged that it is advantageous for the future political situation.

[Anchor]
The biggest interest is whether the ruling Liberal Democratic Party achieves a majority, but recent polls suggest that it is not easy, right?

[Reporter]
Yes. That's right.

Of the 465 seats in the House of Representatives, more than 233 seats are in total.

The LDP has not missed a majority in four general elections since retaking power in 2012.

But if you look at the results of the latest poll,
It is highly likely that it will not reach 233 seats, which is the majority, beyond the decrease from 258 seats before the dissolution of the
House of Representatives.

Moreover, even with the ruling New Komeito, the ruling coalition party, the majority of the ruling party is unclear.

Above all, this is because the public's distrust is still large due to the controversy over the slush fund scandal in the Liberal Democratic Party at the end of last year.

In addition, complaints about high inflation, which has a consumer inflation rate of more than 2%, and real wages not rising, also seem to be major factors.

On the other hand, the Constitutional Democratic Party, the main opposition party, was observed to have a possibility of an increase of more than 50 seats from the previous 98.

It is interpreted that the opposition parties, including the Constitutional Democratic Party, are gaining reflective profits by intensively targeting the Liberal Democratic Party's slush fund scandal.

If the Liberal Democratic Party fails to secure a majority, it is expected that Prime Minister Ishiba will be responsible for the party and the move to replace it will be in full swing.

I'm Kim Se-ho of YTN in Tokyo.