Tokyo 2016 Olympic Vote

Tokyo has been bidding for the 2016 summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. Today is the final vote in Copenhagen to decide which city will win the right to host the Games.

Tokyo has been a strong front runner in the race. If Tokyo succeeds it will be busy times ahead for the city as it readies itself for 2016.

Thanks to @puffdragon01 (via Twitter), aka whipcracker, a long time reader of shibuya246, for details of this Yahoo report 48 hours prior to voting.

the race to host the 2016 games—pitting Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo and Madrid—is still too close to call. Which means committee members will spend the next two days feeling like the most popular people on the planet.

And for a guide as to exactly what happens at the vote here is the explanation from Associated Press.

VOTING PROCESS: IOC members vote by secret ballot until one city receives a majority. The city receiving the fewest votes is eliminated after each round. The maximum number of rounds is three.

HOW MANY: The IOC has 106 members. The president, Jacques Rogge, doesn't vote. Members from a country with a bid city in the race are ineligible to vote as long as that city is still in contention. That means 97 members are eligible to vote in the first round, more in subsequent rounds. In the event of a two-city tie in the early rounds, a runoff is held between the cities. If there is a tie in the final round, Rogge can vote or ask the IOC executive board to break the deadlock.

THE VOTE: Members start voting at 5:10 p.m. (11:10 a.m. EDT). Voting finished by 5:40 p.m. (11:40 a.m. EDT).

THE ANNOUNCEMENT: The announcement ceremony is scheduled from 6:30 to 7 p.m. (12:30 to 1 p.m. EDT).