The municipal government of Kesennuma on Sunday began visiting temporary housing for victims of the March, 2011, earthquake and tsunami with ballot boxes to allow early voting on December 16 in Japan’s House of Representatives election. The early voting was proposed by an election board official who said that elderly people living in temporary housing without transportation should be enabled to vote.

A woman heads into a special voting station set up in Ichinoseki, where many evacuees from Kesennuma now living in temporary housing (Photo: japantimes)

In related news, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who heads Japan’s main opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), on Sunday rejected the possibility of allying with the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) led by incumbent President Yoshihiko Noda. Recent polls have shown greater support for the LDP, which might regain power from the DPJ after 3 years.