LDP-backed candidate wins Ginowan mayoral elections in Okinawa: exit polls

Early exit polls following the mayoral election in Ginowan City, Okinawa Prefecture, indicate that incumbent Atsushi Sakima will secure a second four-year term as the city's mayor.

Atsushi Sakima, 51, is backed by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party-bloc and is widely believed to support the central government's plans to relocate a controversial U.S. military base within the prefecture, although has not directly referenced the matter.

He has pledged however, to replace the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma with a Disney resort, although it's not yet known if Disney is on-board.

Keiichiro Shimura, a 63-year-old former prefectural government employee and Sakima's opponent was campaigning to see the base's relocation halted, the base shut down, land returned to Okinawa, and if necessary the base relocated outside the prefecture.

According to the Election Commission of Ginowan City, voter turnout was 40.4 percent, some 1.79 percent lower than that of the previous mayoral elections for the city, as of a few hours before the polls closed.

But those who opted to cast their votes early, which comprises about 20 percent of the electorate, were more than double that of the previous election, according to public broadcaster NHK.

According to the election commission, there were 72,526 eligible voters.

Polls officially closed at 8:00 p.m. local time Sunday at the 16 polling stations across the city. Enditem