Voting begins in Japan

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Japan will hold elections for its House of Representatives on August 30th. But voters have already begun casting ballots. Polls have also opened for voters living overseas.

Japanese voters have twelve days to cast their ballots for the lower house election.

The early voting is for those who can't make it to the polls on election day due to business and travel.

In 2007, nearly 11 million Japanese voted early, ten percent more than those on the actual day.

Overseas voters can either vote in person or by mail.

This year 209 polling stations have been set up in diplomatic missions abroad. Roughly 116-thousand overseas Japanese are expected to vote.

A detailed survey of electoral districts shows the opposition Democratic Party of Japan leading. The DPJ could win 300 of the 480 seats in parliament's lower house, while the long-ruling Liberal Democrats may be halved to around 150 seats.