TOKYO, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Japan's ruling coalition of Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its small ruling partner Komeito will lose their lower house majority in Sunday's general election, public broadcaster NHK reported.

NHK said that the ruling bloc is set to fall short of the 233 seats needed for a majority in the 465-member House of Representatives, the more powerful lower chamber of parliament.

Before the election, the LDP had 247 seats, enough for a majority on its own, while Komeito had 32.

Projected seat numbers for the LDP range from 153 to 219, making it almost certain that the party will fall short of an outright majority in the lower house of parliament.

Meanwhile, the Komeito is expected to win between 21 and 35 seats.

The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan is certain to make significant gains and is projected to secure between 128 and 191 seats, up from its pre-election count of 98 seats, NHK said.

This increase would bolster the opposition's influence in the Diet chamber and could affect the ruling coalition's ability to pass legislation smoothly, it added.

Since the 2012 election, when the LDP returned to power after being ousted in 2009, it has won a majority in the 465-seat lower house on its own in four consecutive elections.

Voting of the lower house election finished Sunday evening with polling stations closing nationwide at 8 p.m. local time, and ballot counting is expected to last till Monday.

With 465 seats up for grabs, a total of 1,344 candidates ran in the country's 50th House of Representatives election, more than the 1,051 in the last such election in 2021. Enditem

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