Voting got under way Sunday in quake-hit Fukushima Prefecture to elect the prefectural assembly and local leaders, including mayors for the irradiated towns of Okuma and Futaba, which host the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.

The elections, which were supposed to take place in April along with other nationwide local elections, were postponed under a special law after the devastating March 11 quake, tsunami and nuclear crisis forced residents to flee their homes, many for good.

But the assembly election is lacking in energy and issues because all of the parties and groups concerned called for dropping nuclear power in October, leaving little to debate. Turnout was a low 12.81 percent as of 11 a.m.