Elections

[Davey]

tommorow are the elections.. can somebody please give me some information about what kind of elections it are, and some more background information about it!!

for me, and other people.. i will research it myself, but yeah some basic information would be nice

 

[RockLee]

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/09/05/news/japan.php

 

[Colin]

Here is a good starting point:
http://www.time.com/time/asia/2005/koizumi/story.html

Looks like Koizumi and the LDP will role the DPJ. Then the real fun begins. Can the sweeping reforms Koizumi wants to initiate really bear fruit? Only time will tell...

 

[Limonette]

I heard something interesting - that 70% of Japanese vote, whereas in America only 50% vote. No wonder it's such a mess here. The only thing I know about the upcoming election is that the democratic party is promising to remove the Japan troops from Iraq. I heard that from a Japanese reporter with a very fashionable tie on c-span. And I will check out those websites cos I need to know more...

 

[Kinsao]

It's good that a higher proportion of Japanese people vote. In the UK, a ridiculously low number of people vote. I don't think it's because people don't care who is running the country, I think it is simply that people don't think much to any of the alternatives. I mean, I feel like that... but I still vote... because we have to at least try to change things...

So what do people feel about the results? Do you think it's a good thing for Japan? What do you envisage in the way of changes? I am curious to know, because my knowledge of Japanese politics is pretty well zero...

 

[Mamoru-kun]

If I may ask, are we the only country (Belgium) where the vote is obligatory for everyone???

 

[Limonette]

I agree Kinsao, alot of people argue that voting doesn't make a difference, but it really does. I can imagine what a difference if more people had voted and we had someone other than Bush on the environment, war in Iraq (no war), New Orleans mess, and the supreme court judges. I'm not looking forward to seeing what more of a mess he does with our country in the next 3 years. But that's a different thread. I'm also interested in what other people think of the results. I haven't read much on it yet so I don't really have an opinion. I thought it was awful when they sent the 10 troops to Iraq though - didn't agree with that at all. But I don't really know how things are being run there. A couple of my Japanese friends don't like the Prime Minister at all though.

I think I was wrong about what that reporter said - I think he said the democratic opposition party promised to remove the troops. I think I was paying more attention to his cute accent than what he was saying (my bad).

Obligatory voting, that's different, Mamoru-kun- I never thought of something like that. Does everyone vote for the parties running? Or do they sometimes vote for Donald Duck or someone else out of protest? What do they do to you if you don't vote? Give you a ticket?

 

[Kinsao]

Slightly offtopic, it did strike me that pronunciation is important in the English language. If elections were as interesting as erections, a lot more people in the UK would turn out to vote.

 

[Limonette]

LOL I think you're right. Funny thing on our Korean show they had an explanation of why they sometimes pronounce things like "Chicken flied lice". But I missed it, hope I catch that one again. I love Japanese accents, think they're so cool. One of my penpals writes with an accent -it's really cute.

 

[Mamoru-kun]

Obligatory voting, that's different, Mamoru-kun- I never thought of something like that. Does everyone vote for the parties running? Or do they sometimes vote for Donald Duck or someone else out of protest? What do they do to you if you don't vote? Give you a ticket?

That's the idea. You have a list of "available" people or groups you have to vote for, and if you decide not to vote, you can leave a blank vote (I'm not sure how your voice is counted then. I think that it goes to the group or person with more voices). If you don't vote (that means, if you don't go to the vote places the given day), you are against the law (up to two years of prison, what I've heard!). As simple as that.

 

[Maciamo]

Slightly offtopic, it did strike me that pronunciation is important in the English language. If elections were as interesting as erections, a lot more people in the UK would turn out to vote.

This pun also exist in French, Italian, Spanish, etc. as the words election and erection come from Latin.

 

[Kinsao]

Whee, that sounds a bit harsh! I can sort of see where they're coming from, but I'm not sure I agree with the idea of obligatory voting. At least, if not many people bother to vote in the UK, someone cries "voter apathy" and the parties try to think up ways of getting more people interested enough to vote. I'm not saying it necessarily works, but it provides us with something else to take the p*ss out of down the pub....

Here, if you don't wish to vote you can mar your ballot paper (i.e. write something stupid or make marks that are not voting crosses, try and vote for more than one person or something out of the rules like that), and your vote will be counted as an "abstention". That way, at least, you are on record as someone who chose not to vote, whereas if you don't turn up at all, your views will never get heard (err, except possibly by people down the pub...).

 

[Maciamo]

If I may ask, are we the only country (Belgium) where the vote is obligatory for everyone???

Belgium is indeed a special case. Here is an explanation on compulsory voting, with a list of countries where it is applied and the level of enforcement. The countries with a strict enforcement are very few and far between : Belgium, Luxembourg, Swizerland, Cyprus, Singapore, Australia, Fiji and Urugay (yes, that's all !). Belgium is the 2nd biggest country after Australia.

 

[Mamoru-kun]

Great site, thank you Maciamo! I had never seen the point of view against the compulsory votes before. And by the way...thank you for the exact way of calling that process ;-)

 

[shiroma]

衆議院

Looks like Koizumi and the LDP will role the DPJ.

Strength of Political Groups in the House of Representatives