Opinions and Responses

Regarding Early Voting

Regarding early voting for the House of Representatives election on February 8, 2026, I was unable to vote on a weekday due to work commitments and voted on Saturday, February 7, the day before the election. However, the only voting location available was the Community Promotion Plaza, and including parking lot congestion, it took over an hour to vote due to the crowd (15 minutes waiting in traffic, over 45 minutes waiting to vote). Many people came to the Community Promotion Plaza, and there was no place to wait in line, so it may have been unavoidable. However, I believe consideration is needed for those with mobility issues or those carrying infants who had to climb to the 4th floor via stairs and then turn back to the 1st floor voting area. Furthermore, despite encouraging early voting, there are only three locations within Inagi City, and on the day before the election, only the Community Promotion Plaza is available. I hope this situation can be improved in the future (at least by extending the early voting period at the other two locations until the Saturday before the election). Especially since the i Bus route revision means it is no longer possible to go directly from the Hirao area to Inagi City Hall, I would like this point to be taken into consideration and reviewed.

Response

Regarding the early voting you mentioned, due to the forecast of snowfall on the voting day, the Community Promotion Plaza was especially crowded on February 7, the day before the vote, and we apologize for the long wait times before voting.
As you pointed out, we arranged for voters to line up using the stairs so that they would not have to wait outside. We also provided chairs on the first floor for those with mobility issues to wait, but our consideration was insufficient, and some people gave up voting, resulting in challenges in managing the polling station during busy times. Going forward, we will consider measures to improve accommodations for those who find it difficult to line up.
Regarding the requested expansion of early voting locations and the extension of the voting period, we believe that these measures would enhance voter convenience and increase voting opportunities. However, due to many challenges such as costs, the appointment of election managers and election observers, securing staff, ensuring permanent facilities for expanded voting locations, implementing security measures to prevent double voting, and establishing systems to respond to unforeseen circumstances like power outages or system failures, we currently consider it difficult to implement these changes.

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