Abe eyes big win as Japan votes under N. Korea threats

Millions of Japanese braved typhoon conditions Sunday for a snap election likely to hand Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a fresh mandate to revive the world's third-largest economy and press his hardline stance on North Korea. If pre-vote surveys prove correct, Abe's conservative coalition will cruise to a crushing majority to win a fresh term at the helm of the key US regional ally and Asian economic powerhouse. Despite the bad weather, voter turnout excluding early voting rose to 12.24 percent by 11:00am from 11.08 percent in the previous election three years ago, while a record 15.64 million had cast early votes by Friday, the government said.

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