Japan's ruling coalition comprising the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito were expected to fall short of attaining a majority of seats in the October 27 lower house election. Vote counting, exit polls and situation analyses for the 50th House of Representatives election show that the LDP is expected to win 174 seats and Komeito 24 seats.This would give the two parties 198 seats combined, less than the 233 majority in the 465-seat lower house. Up for grabs in the election were 289 seats in single-seat districts and 176 seats in proportional representation. Major topics taken up in the election included the LDP's political reforms in response to slush fund scandals involving some of its factions and rising commodity prices. The LDP's Takaichi Sanae won a seat in a constituency in Nara Prefecture, while former Prime Minister Kishida Fumio did the same in Hiroshima Prefecture. Ishiba said after voting closed at 8 p.m. that the situation for his party appears severe, adding that he was not able to gain understanding from the public over the political fund issue. Among opposition parties, the largest Constitutional Democratic Party is predicted to get 157 seats, soaring from the 98 it had before the lower house was dissolved.Constitutional Democratic Party leader Noda Yoshihiko secured a seat representing Chiba Prefecture. The Japan Innovation Party is likely to see a drop in seats from the pre-election 44 to 37. The Japanese Communist Party is projected to secure 10 seats, the same number it had before. The Democratic Party for the People is expected to win 28 seats, four time the seven it previously held. The Reiwa Shinsengumi is forecast to gain 15 seats, up from the three it had before dissolution. The Social Democratic Party is likely to secure one seat, while Sanseito and political organization Conservative Party of Japan are likely to win three seats each. According to estimates by Nippon TV, the nationwide voting rate for single-seat constituencies as of 8 p.m. was 53.11 percent, 2.82 percentage points lower than the same time for the previous lower house election three years ago.