... like no other... (191/365, 10 July 2022)
The election is overshadowed of course by Abe's death on Friday, still referred to as 'a shooting' rather than 'assassination'. Usually I was patiently for the day to pass, watching the hourly updates on voter turnout, preparing my notes and charts and seats and swings and pendulums. Sadly, I really like election days, here and in Australia and in rather nerdy ways I'm afraid. I really can't say how I ended up at this end of political science but, I find it is a fascinating insight into what kind of society we want to make. More on that elsewhere though.
This afternoon, I went for a walk around to my local polling place, one of the neighbourhood schools. Previously, when I was staying with friends, I have been able to walk into the polling place with them (though not into the booth itself) and it is remarkably similar to Australian polling places. Here, voters write the name of their preferred candidate and/or party on the ballot papers. More first past the post than Australia's preferential system.
It was late afternoon by the time I got around to the school. No sign of democracy sausages of course, and although not a lot of people, those there went about their civic duty.
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| The morning paper |
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| Polling place sign |
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| All the posters outside the polling place, one last look before you decide your vote |
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| My shirt for the occasion, I found at a market a few weeks ago |
Not really expecting a big push in votes for Abe's party per se, though some of my students did say they would now think about voting, where previously they might not have.
Pics on the iPhone 12 mini, didn't want to stay out too much.
