What started out as a simple 2ch thread about voting frustrations, has revealed another dark and insane side to idol elections: behold, the automatic AKB election voting machine!

The thread starts out with a Yokoyama Yui fan expressing his frustration:

• “I was using this automatic voting machine, and I just looked at my computer because it just finished. Then I saw an unknown face. Who the heck is this?!” (自動投票機で投票させてたんだけど、今さっき全部投票し終わったからPCみたら 見知らぬ顔写真が・・・・誰だよこいつ）

For those not in the know, apparently he had accidentally voted for Yokohama Yui from Team 8, and not the more popular Yui-han, Captain of Team A that we all know and love.  The mistake is understandable, as their names in Japanese only different by a single character, but have the exact same pronunciation.  It also doesn’t help that “Yui” is a common first name and has many different variations.  Observe:

• 横山結依 (Team 8)
• 横山由依 (Team A Captain)

What follows is what everyone else seemed to asked about: What the heck is an automated voting machine?!  One user enlightens us all with a simple youtube video:

The video’s author used it to vote for Matsumura Kaori.  The video starts off ominously, “In the middle of war, we have evolved”.

Evolution indeed.  According to video, you simply take the voting pamphlets, which can then be scanned into a computer.  What appears to be a program or macro of some sort will read the serial numbers and automatically vote for you.  It is able to cast 100 votes in three minutes.

The only thing left, as one user notes, is that it doesn’t pull the pamphlets out of the CD for you.

Source: http://akb48taimuzu.livedoor.biz/archives/45035277.html