Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leader election starts on Wednesday with the winner almost certain to become the next prime minister ahead of a general election due in weeks.

Running for the top post are Fumio Kishida, 64, an LDP lawmaker and former foreign minister; Sanae Takaichi, 60, a former internal affairs minister; Taro Kono, 58, an eight-term LDP lawmaker and current minister in charge of Japan's vaccine rollout; and Seiko Noda, 61, a former internal affairs minister.

Takaichi and Noda are also vying to become the first female prime minister in Japan's history.

Party lawmakers will begin voting at 1:00 p.m. Japan time (0400 GMT) at a Tokyo hotel. Results from ballots of rank-and-file members and lawmakers are scheduled to be announced at 2:20 p.m.

If any candidate gets a clear majority, though unlikely as projections show, he or she will become the winner.

If not, the top two candidates in the first round will immediately go into a run-off vote. The results of the second round of voting are expected around 3:40 p.m.

According to opinion polls, economic policy should be of the highest priority for the next prime minister with the economy staggering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In their last-minute appeals for support on Tuesday, the candidates spent hours explaining how their policies regarding the COVID-19 fallout would be different from each other and also the present Yoshihide Suga administration.

The race to become the country's next leader looks too close to call.

Kono has the highest numbers in public polls, but Kishida leads among lawmakers, predictions show. In case of the run-off, Takaichi, a contender in third, has agreed to support Kishida, Sankei Newspaper reported on Wednesday.

(With input from Reuters)