How YOU Should Vote This Election Day...

Day 704, 23:44 • Published in Japan Japan • by Geno Garon

Here comes the party politicking, right? Nah, I think enough people have beaten THAT dead horse.

Today, dear readers, I come to you with instructions, nah, ORDERS, on how to vote today.

1: ACTUALLY VOTE.

This is perhaps the most important one, because if you don't vote, you have no right to complain about the person or persons who does a crappy job. If you DID vote for them, you can complain that they lied to you. If you DIDN'T, you can complain that you knew it all along. If you didn't vote, you're SOL.

2: RESEARCH YOUR CANDIDATES.

There's nothing I like better than watching people vote along party lines just for the hell of it. Oh.... wait... scratch that, I DON'T like it. Party-line voting is probably the worst symptom of a stagnant political system. In every party, you will have both good and bad candidates. FIND THE GOOD ONES. They may not be in your party, but think of it this way; not only are you helping someone get into congress that will help Japan, but if they are not in your party, you may be saving your party some egg on your face when "your guy" does poorly. Go on the forums, read more than just their candidature proposal, really try to get to know who you are voting for as much as you can. You have all day to read up on them, so take at least SOME time to research before you vote.

3: DON'T BUY THE HYPE.

This one may seem like an extension of the last order, and it is to some extent, but it needs to be reiterated. DON'T just read the article a potential congressman has linked to next to the vote button. OF COURSE it's an article that's going to make them look good; no one would link you to a piece of crap article with negative comments. Read BACK in their newspaper, check the wiki to see if they have recorded history, check the forums for their posts on issues, but DON'T just take their word for it.

4: SHARE THE LOVE.

Chances are, you live in one of the BIG THREE zones in Japan, Kyushu, Kanto, or Hokkaido. There will be dozens of voters in each of those regions, and they will likely produce one or two crazy front-runners per region. If you REALLY insist on voting party lines, OR you wanna get really crazy and try to get support for the GOOD congressmen that aren't winning, get yourself two moving tickets and hop over to one of the less populated areas. Not only will your vote count MORE over there (hence, you having greater control over your government), but it will give the moving tickets industry a little boost, and boosting the economy is always a good thing. Just make sure to monitor your health; each Q1 moving ticket drains 2 wellness points from you when used, and higher tickets are rather expensive.

5: GET VOCAL.

The very basic premise of this is to tell people to vote. This includes shouts, news articles, PMs, and comments on other articles. The more you tell people to vote, the more likely it is that more people will vote. On top of that, if you find a candidate you REALLY think needs to be in government (and not JUST because he or she is in your party), be sure to tell people who they should consider voting for, AND WHY! The more involved you get in politics NOW, the easier it will be to get INTO politics later, assuming you want to. Even if not, beginning to establish yourself as a vocal member of the community is always a good thing.

And those are your five ORDERS for this election day.

On top of that, Orange Party members are to vote for the following people:
Anyone they feel suits the government best, except for No1Kevlin because of his dirty voter-buying.

THIS INCLUDES OTHER MEMBERS OF TFC. TFC IS NOT A BAD PARTY. FEEL FREE TO VOTE FOR THEM.

~ Geno Garon President of the Orange Party, VP of eJapan