Voting, Part 2

This is what I looked at most of yesterday, when I went not just to vote in the first ever Global Democratic Primary, but to volunteer as well. To say the Japanese media was curious was a bit of an understatement, as there were times when there was more of the media in the room than voters. They were photographing everything, from the ballets to Lauren's stuffed "Democratic Donkey" to the hand written sign outside that said "Voters, please note - the media are here - come on in anyway!"

While various media outlets came and went throughout the morning, there were always several huddled around waiting for a voter to walk in.

They would spot someone, usually the only Gaijin (foreigner) approaching the room and immediately start filming. The startled voter would register, get the ballet, walk to the back to vote and then return, only to be pounced upon by the hungry (but exceedingly polite) reporters. "Who did you vote for?", " why?", where are you from in America?", "did Hillary crying on TV affect you?", "why do you like Obama?", and on and on.


One reporter was keeping a tally of who people had voted for - red stickers for Hillary and blue for Barak (FYI - Barak was winning by a huge margin).
There was a mother and son there, the mother pratically breaking out in tears when we told her that her son could vote in the primary, as long as he would be 18 by election day. He got so nervous, he started sweating, and they were both deluged by the media after they had finished.

Around lunchtime, we started to see the effects of all the media attention, as people came by who had seen the story on the early news. We moved to a larger room to accomidate the voters who would be showing up after work and that is when I made my exit, as I had to pick Ariana up from school.

I was glad I got to participate in the event and I was looking forward to hanging out with my fellow dems this morning to watch the returns, but alas, the little one was sick (and I wasn't feeling too great myself) and stayed home from school. So, I watched care of Slingbox at home, feeling a little closer to the process.......and home.