Snap election

Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Edward Kaltamat, who disclosed the above said at present there is no budget for a snap election.

Kaltamat said recently they spent over VT7 million (US$60,00) for the Presidential election, but this was budgeted for. 

The commission is now preparing for the Malekula by-elections.. 

Kaltamat said in the event that the Parliament is dissolved as requested by the Council of Ministers (COM), the government will find the funds for the snap election.

Voting opened at 07:00 local time on Sunday (22:00 GMT Saturday).

Mr Abe called the election amid rebounding approval ratings after a record low over the summer and with the opposition largely in disarray.

If, as predicted, Mr Abe is re-elected, he will be on track to become Japan's longest serving post-war leader.

An early challenge from the popular governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, appears to be fizzling out, according to the BBC's Tokyo correspondent Rupert Wingfield-Hayes.