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The Mainichi
3 days ago
- Health
- The Mainichi
Misunderstanding has hospitalized teen in Japan losing first, perhaps last, chance to vote
NAGOYA -- It was his first chance, and maybe his last chance, to cast a vote. That's what one mother in Aichi Prefecture thought as she said to her 18-year-old son, "You know, you can vote even from your hospital room. Want to give it a try?" Shortly after Japan's July House of Councillors' election was announced, the 53-year-old woman showed her 18-year-old son, lying in his hospital bed, a notice about absentee voting distributed by the hospital. This was the first election in which he was eligible to cast a ballot. Her son had been at a university hospital in the prefecture for about six months with a brain tumor. He cannot walk on his own, spends most of his time in bed, and uses a wheelchair to get around. Depending on his condition, he sometimes drifts in and out of consciousness and cannot always respond clearly. But on this day, he answered his mother's question. "Yeah, I want to try voting." About a month before the election, the woman was told by her son's doctor that he had only a few months left to live. She had not told her son, but because every day was lived with the awareness of death, she wanted to help him leave as many "proofs of life" as possible. His words made her happy. A hope dashed One day in mid-July, absentee voting was held at the hospital. For patients like her son, who could not make it to the hospital's voting station, nurses visited rooms so patients could vote from their beds. Unfortunately, her son was running a fever of nearly 39 degrees Celsius that day. When the head nurse visited his room, his mother was out making a phone call. The nurse asked her son if he wanted to vote, but he reportedly replied in a fevered daze, "No, it's fine." He was then marked down as declining to vote. When the woman learned what had happened, she was shocked. She checked with the hospital, but they maintained, "He himself indicated he did not wish to vote." However, her son says he has "no memory" of the exchange. When he learned he had missed his chance, he murmured, "I wish I could have voted..." Did her son really refuse to vote? The woman's doubts linger. "I wish they'd waited a little and checked his intention again when he was more alert, instead of when he was out of it. If a patient is going to abstain, couldn't they at least have them sign something?" Hospitals' burdens and limitations In response to the woman's concerns, the hospital explained, "Absentee voting is only available for one day, and the time is fixed. With so many patients and wards to cover, it's difficult to come back and check again when someone is feeling better." According to the hospital, about 161 of the roughly 660 inpatients requested absentee ballots for this upper house election. Of these, 21 were discharged before election day, and seven, including her son, were unable to vote due to illness. For absentee voting in hospitals, staff must handle everything: confirming patients' intent to vote, requesting ballots from the municipality where the patient is registered, setting up the voting station, overseeing the voting, and managing and sending the ballots. At this hospital, voting was limited to a single day, with two-hour voting windows in the morning and afternoon, squeezed in between regular hospital duties. A conference room was set up as a polling place, and many nurses and administrative staff helped by escorting patients, overseeing voting or visiting rooms of those unable to move. A hospital official said, "There are limits to the time and staff we can devote to absentee voting," adding, "We hope the election commission will take the lead, such as by dispatching staff." Still, the burden on hospitals, already busy with inpatients and outpatients, is heavy. "We would like to see the introduction of online voting or other systems that allow voters to complete the process themselves," the official went on to say. A single vote as proof of life The woman understands how busy the nurses are. But for her son, whose remaining time may be short, this could have been his first and last vote. As his mother, she desperately wanted him to have the experience. "Even if my son were to pass away, his one vote would live on for the six years of an upper house lawmaker's term. I wanted it to be a testament to his life," she said. She cannot shake her doubts about the current election system. "If they want to raise voter turnout, I wish they would be more flexible. I can't help but feel that precious votes are being treated too lightly." How can patients' voting rights be protected? Absentee voting at hospitals and nursing homes has seen its share of mistakes and problems across Japan. In this upper house election, a hospital in Asahikawa, Hokkaido, failed to mail two patients' ballots, rendering their votes invalid. So how can patients' right to vote be protected? Yasuhiro Yuki, a professor of social welfare at Shukutoku University who served on a national expert panel on improving voting environments, said, "Given the costs and staffing, it's difficult for hospitals to offer multiple voting days." As a solution, he suggested "relaxing the requirements for postal voting." Currently, postal voting is limited to people with severe lower-body disabilities or those certified as requiring the highest level of nursing care. "If the system were expanded to include seriously ill people confined to hospital beds, they could vote when they are feeling well," he said.
Maroc
02-07-2025
- Business
- Maroc
54k Moroccans Benefit from Direct Housing Assistance Program
A total of 54,000 people, including 3,000 in rural areas, have benefited from Morocco's Direct Housing Assistance Program , Secretary of State in charge of Housing, Adib Benbrahim, said on Tuesday. Speaking at the House of Councillors' question time, Benbrahim said that more than 167,000 applications have been submitted across the country, highlighting the program's 'significant results' since its launch last year. He stressed the ministry's special focus on rural areas, noting that the Al Omrane Group has been mobilized to support this effort. Beginning in August, the public developer is set to begin construction on more than 2,930 housing units across 49 emerging rural centers, including Sidi Rahal, Sidi Bouathmane, Ait Ourir, and Zagora. This initiative is expected to spur local economic growth and strengthen housing supply in rural and mountainous areas, he said, adding that Al Omrane, either directly or in partnership with the private sector, aims to deliver 147,000 housing units by 2028. Benbrahim also announced that the second phase of the national Ksour and Kasbah program (2025-2030) will target nearly 100 sites with a combined population of about 40,000, across 15 provinces in five regions. The total cost of this phase is estimated at MAD 1.5 billion, including MAD 550 million from the ministry. The remaining MAD 950 million will be funded by the ministries of Interior, Culture, Islamic Affairs, and Tourism. MAP: 01 July 2025
Yomiuri Shimbun
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Japan Envoys Part of Delegation as Israeli Soldiers Fire ‘Warning Shots'; Iwaya Says Incident Is ‘Regrettable,' Lodges Protest
Yomiuri Shimbun file photo Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya in March Japanese diplomats were part of the delegation that Israeli troops fired 'warning shots' when the group was visiting Palestinian refugee camps in Jenin in the West Bank on Wednesday. Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya spoke about the incident during a meeting of a House of Councillors' Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. 'It is deeply regrettable,' Iwaya said. 'This should never have happened.' Iwaya also said he lodged a protest with the Israeli government, demanding an explanation as well as measures to prevent a similar incident from occurring again.
