Tokyo goes to the polls while the COVID shadow Olympics arrive Coronavirus pandemic News

Sunday’s vote is important for the lower house elections scheduled for October.

Voters in the Japanese capital, Tokyo, are voting in the city council elections that are dominated by concerns about health risks at the Olympics as the COVID-19 case continues to rise.

Sunday’s vote will not affect the games, which will open in three weeks, but it is important for the lower house elections to be held in October.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s term as party chairman will expire at the end of September and his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) demonstrations in the Tokyo poll may help achieve another term, analysts say.

The head of the LDP is almost certain to be prime minister, given the party’s large majority in parliament.

In a recent poll by Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, 23% of those polled said they would vote for LDP candidates, 17% against the First People’s Party in Tokyo and 8% in favor of the Communist Party of Japan.

The Tokyo Citizens First party, created by Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, is currently the largest party in the city’s assembly and wants the Olympics to be held without spectators.

Suga said he intended to organize the games, but would not hesitate if it was necessary to put the audience in the bar.

The Tokyo Olympics, delayed by a year due to the outbreak of the virus, will begin on July 23.

Public opinion polls show that most people want to cancel games or postpone them further.

Some medical experts have warned that COVID-19 may become a superspreader event, and have warned that new cases in Tokyo could trigger thousands of shootings. On Saturday, the capital reported 716 new infections, the highest in more than five weeks.

Meanwhile, only about 10% of the population has been completely vaccinated.

In Sunday’s vote, 271 candidates are vying for 127 seats. Candidate voters have a total population of 9.8 million in a megalot with a population of 14 million.

“My focus in these elections was pandemic measures,” a 26-year-old self-employed actor with a hearing impairment wrote to a Reuters news reporter in a note outside the polling station.

He has also asked not to be named.

“I chose a candidate who would take action to save the infected people because I am afraid of losing my job and income if I become infected,” he said, refusing to name the party. “I don’t care about political parties.”

Polls will close at 20:00 (11:00 GMT) and the counting of votes will begin immediately.