参院選、投票進む　深夜にも大勢判明【２２参院選】

　第２６回参院選は１０日午前７時、全国約４万６０００カ所の投票所で投票が始まった。改選１２４（選挙区７４、比例代表５０）と、神奈川選挙区の非改選の欠員補充の計１２５議席が争われる。自民、公明両党が改選過半数（６３）を得るかが焦点。投票は一部地域を除き午後８時に締め切られて直ちに開票、深夜にも大勢が判明する見通し。
　総務省が発表した午後４時現在の中間投票率は２３．０１％で、前回２０１９年を０．２９ポイント上回っている。
　岸田文雄首相（自民党総裁）にとって昨年１０月の就任直後の衆院選以来となる大型国政選挙で、９カ月余りの政権運営に審判が下る。ウクライナ危機を受けた物価高対応、安全保障政策の見直しなどを争点に論戦が交わされた。選挙戦最終盤の遊説先で安倍晋三元首相が銃撃を受けて死亡する事件が発生し、結果への影響も注目される。
　選挙区３６７人、比例代表１７８人の計５４５人が立候補した。参院の総定数は今回から３増えて２４８（過半数１２５）。首相は与党で非改選も含めて過半数となる「５５議席以上」を勝敗ラインに掲げた。（2022/07/10-18:19）

Voting in Japan's House of Councillors election started at 7 a.m. Sunday (10 p.m. Saturday GMT) at about 46,000 polling stations across the country.
   Up for grabs are 124 seats--74 for prefectural constituencies and 50 for the nationwide proportional representation system--plus one seat to fill a vacancy in Kanagawa Prefecture, eastern Japan. The focus in the poll for the upper chamber of the Diet, Japan's parliament, is whether the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, Komeito, can together win 63 seats, a majority of the 125 seats.
   Voting is set to close at 8 p.m. except in some areas. Vote counting will begin immediately, with results seen becoming available by late Sunday night.
   The election has been closely watched as a test for policies of the administration of Prime Minister and LDP President Fumio Kishida. It is the first major parliamentary election since the general election for the House of Representatives, the all-important lower chamber of the Diet, in late October 2021, shortly after Kishida took office early that month.
   During the campaign period, leaders and other officials of the ruling and opposition parties had intensive discussions on issues including measures to fight soaring prices blamed on Russia's invasion of Ukraine and whether to review Japan's national security policy.