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Participants in the Asakusa Samba festival walk past an election poster of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party which bears a picture of its leader, Prime Minister Taro Aso, after their parade in Tokyo August 29, 2009. Candidates across Japan made their final pitch to voters on Saturday on the eve of an election the opposition looks poised to win, giving the untested Democrats the job of tackling record unemployment and a fast-ageing society.
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The House of Representatives has 480 members, 300 of whom are elected by simple majority vote in single-member districts. The remaining 180 members are elected by proportional representation from a list of candidates selected by the political parties. The term of office for representatives is four years.
A total of 1,374 people declared candidacies for the general election, with 1,139 running in the 300 single-seat constituencies and 888 in the 180-seat proportional representation segment.
Japanese media surveys have shown the DPJ is on track of winning 300 seats, as the opposition has a solid hold on nearly 200 of the 300 single-seat constituencies and is likely to take 90 of the 180 seats in the proportional representation segment.
Each voter casts two ballots -- one to choose a candidate in a single-seat constituency and the other to choose a political party or group for proportional representation.
Statistics released Saturday by the Japanese government showed that more than 10.94 million people, or 10.49 percent of the eligible voters nationwide, already cast their ballots in early voting for the election on Aug. 19-28, representing a record high enthusiasm among voters to choose their leader of government.
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Japan's opposition Democratic Party leader Yukio Hatoyama shakes hands with voters during a campaign for the upcoming lower house election in Sakai, western Japan, August 29, 2009. Candidates across Japan made their final pitch on Saturday on the eve of an election the opposition looks set to win, giving the untested Democrats the job of tackling record unemployment and a fast-ageing society.
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(Xinhua News Agency August 30, 2009)
