期日前投票１６６２万人　有権者の１６％【２１衆院選】

　総務省は３０日、衆院選の期日前投票者数が２９日時点で、２０１７年の前回衆院選の同時期と比べて６．３％増の１６６２万４８１３人だったと発表した。投票者数は全有権者数（１８日時点）の１５．７％に当たる。期日前投票が定着したことに加え、新型コロナウイルス感染対策で投開票日の密を避ける有権者が多いとみられる。　
　３９都道府県で前回比増だった。増加率が最も大きかったのは山形県の２２．５％で、石川県２０．１％、岩手県２０．０％が続いた。減少した８県は、沖縄県１０．７％減、三重県９．３％減、大分県６．３％減などだった。（2021/10/30-20:32）

The Japanese internal affairs ministry said Saturday that the number of early voters for Sunday's House of Representatives election stood at 16,624,813 as of Friday, up 6.3 pct from the same period before the previous Lower House poll in 2017.
   Those who cast early votes accounted for 15.7 pct of all eligible voters as of Oct. 18.
   Citizens have apparently become more familiar with the early voting system, while many voters are believed to have avoided congestion expected at polling stations on Sunday to prevent novel coronavirus infections, according to analysts.
   Of all 47 prefectures, 39 had larger numbers of early voters than for the previous Lower House election. The size of growth was largest in Yamagata, at 22.5 pct, followed by Ishikawa, at 20.1 pct, and Iwate, at 20.0 pct.
   Among eight prefectures with fewer early voters, Okinawa posted the steepest drop, of 10.7 pct, followed by Mie, at 9.3 pct, and Oita, at 6.3 pct.