Civic Duty

Today was the election day for the governorship of Tokyo. It was also my very first time to actually vote. You see, my registration was always with my hometown, which I left after high school, and I was never there when a election notice was mailed.

My voting place was an elementary school not far from our apartment. I actually lost the notice that I got, but I was able to vote after a guy ran a quick look-up on the system. He asked for my birth date and address, but requested no ID. Humm, that was strange.

Once inside, I was handed a green paper with a large blank recutangular in the middle, where it asked to write down the candidate's name you are voting for. I then went to one of the booths, and each booth had a paper with all candidates' name on it for your easy reference, in case anyone is not sure who are running for the governor.

I wrote the name of the candidate that I was voting for, folded the green paper, and cast it in a box. It probably took all of 5 minutes after I got to the elementary school to vote, but it felt good to finally do some civic duty. It felt like my vote would matter.

Well, it looks like it didn't after all...