People line up in front of a polling station in Tokyo's Sumida Ward on Oct. 31, 2021. (Mainichi/Yuki Miyatake)

       TOKYO -- The turnout for Japan's Oct. 31 House of Representatives election was estimated at 55.33% in single-seat constituencies, according to a Mainichi Shimbun survey as of 8 p.m. that day.

       The figure is slightly higher than the postwar record low of 52.66%, set in the 2014 general election.

       The turnout for the 49th lower house election was estimated based on announcements by election administration commissions in Japan's 47 prefectures, but it may be different from the final figure.

       According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, preliminary figures show that 20,584,847 people cast ballots in early voting for single-seat constituencies. The number was 795,130 fewer than the previous lower house race in 2017, which saw a record high in advance voting for a national election. Early voters accounted for 19.49% of the electorate.

       People could vote early from Oct. 20, the day after the election was officially announced, until Oct. 30. Advance voting stations were set up at 5,940 locations across the country, such as municipal government offices, universities and commercial facilities, about 600 more than the previous general election. Prefectural election administration commissions were urging people to vote dispersedly as a countermeasure against coronavirus infections, but the number of early voters increased only in 11 prefectures including Hokkaido and Osaka.

       Broken down by prefecture, the rate of early voters among the electorate was highest in Akita Prefecture at 32.44%, followed by Ishikawa Prefecture at 26.43%, Fukushima Prefecture at 24.85%, Wakayama Prefecture at 24.07% and Yamagata Prefecture at 24.01%. The rate was the lowest in Saitama Prefecture at 16.43%.

       In Yamagata Prefecture, the rate of people who voted early grew by 16.69%, the largest change of any prefecture compared to the 2017 general election. The growth rate was followed by Iwate Prefecture at 11.48% and Ishikawa Prefecture at 10.33%.

       (Japanese original by Shiho Fujibuchi, Political News Department)

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