Ichiro Takahashi took a deep breath of the sea air as he approached the designated voting place along the northern edge of the Ishizuki Plateau, home to the newest Samura installations on the planet. He hobbled into the building on his cane, for once not complaining about the pavement or floor (which nonetheless were far better in his day). At his side was Takao Hiyashi, a young Samura pilot who hoped to follow in Ichiro's corporate footsteps, but for now just followed in his literal footprints.
"Takao!" Ichiro said, "Did I ever tell you about Planet Junyo back when I was your age?"
"Yes, sir," Takao answered, "many times. Many many times."
"These new buildings are still pretty nice though," he said, "almost as good as yesteryear's. It helped that I told the builders to study the architecture of the olden days, I'm sure."
As the two waited their respective turns behind a mass of orange jumpsuits, Takao asked, "Do you think we need the Emperor back, sir?"
Ichiro rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Not entirely sure, this last one was too young and brash. Maybe a new one, who has some life experience, hai? I am hoping the Kusari Reformation Party will find us a better one. I hear there are still plenty of potential candidates with the right genetics out there."
"What do you think of that Ame Party?" Takao asked. Ichiro just hit him with his cane in response. At that point it was time for them to vote, and each walked up to their respective booths to cast their vote.
Ichiro Takahashi thus voted for the Kusari Reformation Party, while thinking about how local elections were a lot better in the old days.
Takao Hiyashi, on the other hand, decided to cast his vote for the SUPERIOR AMEPARTY!!!, in hopes that Tohoku would be reclaimed for Kusari and more bakas would be killed. He didn't plan to tell Ichiro though.
* * *
Meanwhile, Hitoshi Fujiyama was hard at work on Shinjuku Station. Being the Director of Business Administration, he always had a lot to do. As such, he voted quickly via neuralnet, casting a vote for the Kusari Reformation Party.
* * *
It was dim on Planet Kurile, as it always was given that it was located within a wisp of the Edge Nebula. Kiyoshi Sato headed toward the polling place on the platform in which he was currently staying. Normally he would ship Kurile's Alien Organisms back to Kusari, but he and his crew had the week off. He surely liked that and wanted to get this voting out of the way early.
Dismayed that the Kusari Integrity Party had once again failed to raise enough support to make a Parliament run, he decided to cast a vote for the Kusari Reformation Party.