People in Japan are going to the polls to vote in Diet by-elections and in the second round of local elections.

Polling stations opened at 7:00 a.m. on Sunday.

Four vacant seats need to be filled in the lower house. They are in Chiba Prefecture's number-5 electoral district, Wakayama Prefecture's number-1 district, and Yamaguchi Prefecture's number-2 and number-4 districts.

An upper house seat representing Oita Prefecture also needs to be filled.

Voters are choosing mayors and assembly members in 679 smaller municipalities. Election results have already been determined in another 233 places. Residents did not have to cast votes, as the number of candidates did not exceed the number of seats.

The results of the by-elections could affect Prime Minister Kishida Fumio's future policies and the other political parties' strategies for future elections.

Everyday matters, such as childcare, education and the local economy have been campaign issues in the local elections.

Vote counting will begin immediately after the polls close at 8:00 p.m. in most of the places, but not in some of Tokyo's districts.