Learning young

If this little sweetheart was aware how much more debt this vote will saddle her with.....

@Jimizo Well we don't actually know who her parents voted for... She seems young enough to have fairly young parents... Let's just hope they ain't stupid...

Jimizo Dec. 14, 2014 - 12:31PM JST

If this little sweetheart was aware how much more debt this vote will saddle her with.....

If her parents are voting with the majority this election neither do they!

Cute, but is it technically legal? In any case, this poor girl is indeed 'learning young'; she's learning that others with power are the ones who will make your decisions for you. All you can do is pretend like you have a say.

I don't think that should be allowed. Voting should be serious business not a cute photo op.

I don't think that should be allowed.

It is the election monitors there that decide.

How is this legal? In most countries this would be illegal. Completely inappropriate.

In most countries this would be illegal.

Irrelevant. Most countries' laws do not apply in Japan.

This is legal as long as she doesn't write the name on the ballot sheet.

'This is legal as long as she doesn't write the name on the ballot sheet.'

Her grasp of kanji would probably be around the same level of a certain high-ranking member of the LDP.

Have there ever been any instances of kids participating (presumably unwittingly) in electoral fraud?

Not that it matters. It's those senile old geriatrics who will vote my taxes up. Who's for staging a mass showing of Logan's Run?

Bah humbug.

"Here's to generations of mounting debt!"

tinawatanabe: "Irrelevant. Most countries' laws do not apply in Japan."

It's still perfectly relevant to be able to ask about a photo that is seeking the attention of others. And suggesting that "it doesn't matter" because such things are illegal in most developed country is just typical defensiveness when in fact it IS relevant on a number of levels as well as that I stated already -- or is democratic election a thing native to Japan and not something they adopted from others?

If it's legal as one poster said so long as the little girl is not writing anything, so be it. People can still ask.

I certainly hope the politicians that win office in this election will do the best they can to serve the people they represent.

In USA, touch button voting machines are used for US Citizens to vote. I don;t know other places but at lieat in Nevada. Not paper voting for quite many years.

And so the cycle continues. Voting is just another game in Japan....

is democratic election a thing native to Japan and not something they adopted from others?

Election is Greek origin, so do you have it in your country (I don't know where) exactly the same as in Greek? The reality is that each country is different, and no country should behave like your country.

Smith in Japan, what a non argument! Her parents obviously voted, and let her introduce the slip. Who would complain about this being legal our not? Do you see any potential problem the organizers failed to notice?

Just watching the election results come in now - it's an LDP procession. Best of luck with that debt, kid. Let's just hope when she's old enough to vote she'll have a half-respectable alternative to the family business in power which tied the millstone around her neck.

To everyone asking "how is this legal," I'm pretty sure her dad or mom just let her put their vote into the ballot box. Pretty sure Japan doesn't allow 5-year olds to vote... Just a hunch.

@Torakichi. Don't be ridiculous, no one is suggesting the child voted, but most countries have laws that say only the person voting can place the vote into the ballot box to prevent any risk of fraud.