The Pittsburgh Press (April 9, 1946)
U.S. troops to guard Japanese election
TOKYO (UP) – Teams of U.S. Army poll-watchers were established by Gen. Douglas MacArthur today to prevent bribery, vote thefts and coercion in Wednesday’s Jap general election.
The Supreme Allied Commander’s decision to send American military squads to the polling places was part of his policy to assure a “free and untrammeled expression” of the Jap people’s will for the first time in many years.
The poll-watching teams were warned by headquarters, however, that “the charge that this election is being conducted under the threat of Yankee bayonets must not be permitted to arise.”