The Democratic Party of Japan now has roughly twice as much support as the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, and is widening its ratings lead heading into Sunday's general election, the latest Kyodo News survey showed Thursday.
In the nationwide telephone poll conducted Wednesday and Thursday, 35.9 percent of respondents said they plan to vote for the DPJ in the proportional representation section, up 3.3 percentage points from the previous survey carried out Aug. 15 and 16, while 17.9 percent said they will vote for the LDP, up 1.4 points.
A similar trend of voter preference for the DPJ was also apparent in single-seat constituencies, as 36.0 percent said they will vote for DPJ candidates, up 1.9 points, while 22.6 percent said they will cast their ballot for LDP candidates, up 3.8 points.