Tokyo, Jul 21 (UNI) Voters began casting ballots on Sunday in Japan's upper house election as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe seeks an endorsement of 'political stability' to achieve his policy goals, including long-envisioned constitutional reform.
A total of 370 candidates were vying for the 124 seats up for grabs -- the focus was on whether the ruling bloc and other pro-amendment forces can maintain a two-thirds majority in the House of Councillors, a prerequisite to revising the Constitution for the first time, according to state news agency Kyodo.
Voting is underway at around 47,000 polling stations nationwide from 0700 hrs local time and will last until 2000 hrs, local time. Officials will start tallying the votes as soon as the voting ends.