Key Facts
• On July 13, a system failure occurred at an early voting site in Munakata City.
• The failure, caused by a suspected lightning strike, halted voting temporarily.
• The issue began at 4:25 PM and was resolved by 5:50 PM.
• During the outage, the system could not verify voter names against the registry.
• As a result, dozens of voters left without casting their ballots.
• The election committee did not have printed voter registries on-site.
• Officials are now considering keeping printed registries at voting locations.
Summary
A lightning strike on July 13 caused a system failure at an early voting site in Munakata City, Fukuoka Prefecture, disrupting operations for over an hour. The failure prevented the verification of voter names against the digital registry, leading to dozens of voters leaving without casting their ballots. The system was restored by 5:50 PM. In response, the election committee is considering keeping printed voter registries at polling stations to prevent similar issues in the future.
