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

He is predicted to win a majority, after the opposition fell apart.

A challenge from Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike appears to be fizzling out.

Speaking to the BBC, one observer described voting for Mr Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party as TINA, or “there is no alternative”.

Mr Abe is hoping his party will win a two-thirds majority, allowing him to make constitutional changes. In particular, he wants to change Japan’s self-defence force into a national army for the first time since World War II.

What impact, if any, Typhoon Lan will have on turnout remains to be seen. The category four storm brought strong winds and heavy rain to the south of the country, causing flights to be cancelled and rail services to be disrupted.

It is expected to blow into the Tokyo area early on Monday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

Mr Abe announced the election on 25 September, saying he needed a fresh mandate in order to deal with the “national crises” facing Japan.

The crises include North Korea, which has threatened to “sink” Japan into the sea. Pyongyang has also fired two missiles over Hokkaido, an island to the north.

Other areas up for debate in the election are the post-Fukushima nuclear policy and the issue of tax.

The polls close at 20:00 local time (11:00 GMT).

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Source: BBC

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Mr Abdul Fattah’s family said the verdict was issued in absentia as he was refused entry into the court.

Mr Abdul Fattah played a key role in the 2011 revolt against Hosni Mubarak.

The sentence comes three days after ex-army chief Abdul Fattah al-Sisi took office as president.

The authorities have cracked down harshly on Islamists and secular activists since former President Mohammed Morsi was removed by the military in July 2013.

Hundreds have been killed and thousands arrested.

‘Concerns about democracy’

Mr Abdul Fattah was arrested in November after taking part in a protest calling for the repeal of a new law that banned unauthorised demonstrations.

On Wednesday, his mother Laila Soueif told the BBC Mr Abdul Fattah had not been allowed into the court for the verdict.

“Alaa and his lawyers were outside the court. They were refused entry,” she said.

“There was not justification for the judge to issue this verdict in absentia… we expected a court hearing with the prosecution and witnesses speaking.

“I believe that the judicial system in Egypt has nothing to do whatsoever with law and justice.”

She added that the family would challenge the verdict.

The campaigner was previously detained under Mr Mubarak’s government and questioned over demonstrations against the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013.

The harsh sentence will deepen concerns about democracy and free speech in Egypt, the BBC’s Orla Guerin in Cairo reports.

In a recent BBC interview, Mr Abdul Fattah said the authorities intended to jail him for a very long time, and the current regime was worse than Mubarak’s, our correspondent adds.

The new president, Mr Sisi, won 96.9% of the vote in May’s elections.

However, turnout was below 50%, as Mr Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood and some liberal and secular activists urged a boycott of the poll.

Mr Sisi’s victory came almost a year after he ousted Mr Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president, following mass protests against his rule.

Mr Morsi’s predecessor, Hosni Mubarak, stepped down after mass anti-government protests in 2011, following nearly three decades in power.

Source: BBC

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