A worker disinfects a table at an early polling station at the Itabashi Ward Office in Tokyo, on Oct. 24, 2021, in this partially modified image. (Mainichi/Kaho Kitayama)

       TOKYO -- The House of Representatives election on Oct. 31 will be Japan's first full national vote held amid the coronavirus pandemic, and election councils across the country are working to implement anti-infection measures at polling places.

       Some local governments are showing traffic levels at early polling stations on their websites and social media, so that voters can avoid crowds.

       Staff at the early polling station at the Itabashi Ward Office in Tokyo placed alcohol disinfectant at the entrance and put up a plastic sheet to prevent aerosol coronavirus transmissions at the reception counter when it opened on Oct. 20. The staff also all wear masks, and regularly disinfect the pencils for filling in ballots and the polling booth tables.

       The ward government has furthermore been posting information online on polling station crowding in real time. Staff input whether their polling station is "less crowded" or "crowded," and this is immediately reflected on a map that voters can check on their devices. Itabashi Ward opened 12 more early polling stations on Oct. 24, and a ward election commission representative commented, "As polling day approaches, we expect the stations will get crowded. We'd like for voters to use this system to check what times are less congested."

       The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has added about 910 million yen, or roughly $8.02 million, to its budget for local governments across Japan to use for coronavirus countermeasures at polling stations and other places related to the lower house election. The ministry requested that each prefectural election council encourage staff wear masks, equip stations with disinfectant, and increase the number of early polling stations, among other steps. It has also been calling on election boards to distribute information on crowding at polling stations.

       (Japanese original by Takayuki Kanamori, Tokyo City News Department)

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