Tossing the ballot

I have exactly 9 days left in Tokyo, and there is so much to be done before it hits zero. Tomorrow, 29 July, is election day, but relatives must be visited. So today, my mum, step-dad, and I went to pre-election day voting. They went through first, filling out the necessary forms and submitting their ballots. But, the staff curiously looked at my eligibility form and started discussing amongst themselves. Then one of the older men dialed his phone, murmured into it for about 30 seconds, and then looked up at me.

"You can't vote here."

I wondered why he was blurting out such an absurdity, and I realized what they were referring to. I had moved to Setagaya city just last month, but had lived in Fuchu city up until then. The voting system is set up so that you must have lived in your voting district for at least three months before the voting date. Essentially, in order to vote, I would have to go back to Fuchu city to vote - something I'm just too lazy to do. The policy is to keep people from moving into cities in order to establish a political party majority in that area.

So I ended up not voting. Oh well.