Candidates will face up to 15 million yen (100 yen) in costs ahead of a house of Representatives election, the daily news of Japan reported Monday.
“The color of the poster is completely different,” one candidate was told by his campaign manager before the election. “You can’t win with this color.”. The candidate reprinted posters and leaflets, which alone cost nearly 1.5 million yen.
Japan’s public office election law clearly stipulates the maximum amount of money a candidate can spend for an election, the daily news said. In the case of the House of Representatives election, the maximum amount varies according to the number of voters in the constituency, but the total amount is about 25 million yen. The amount of money spent by a candidate must be recorded and submitted in the“Election expenses report”(hereinafter referred to as the“Income and expenditure report”) , which can be consulted by anyone. In the 2021 Lower House elections, candidates from Tokyo’s 1-25 districts spent an average of 7.04 million yen, with the lowest spending 2.37 million yen and the highest spending 15.32 million yen.
In the statement of income and expenditure, there are more specific costs, including: “Individual speech venue Billboard production costs 485,000 yen”“Insert newspaper flyers cost 512,000 yen”“Office rent 600,000 yen”… … that each candidate is required to declare publicly.
In April, during a by-election in Tokyo’s 15th Lower House constituency, a candidate publicly disclosed details of his election expenses and pointed to the problem. At the time, the candidate was running as an independent for the first time and had Y15M in reserve, including a Y3M deposit. However, in terms of staff costs, a car aide costs ¥ 37,500, advice on election planning, including legal affairs, ¥ 580,000 and posters ¥ 200,000. The candidate’s“Income and expenditure report” showed election expenses of Y6.17m. Its office staff said that, “The pre-election advertising and the office rent add up to Y1 zero,” the candidate said. The electoral system [ in Japan ] needs to be reformed.”
While the average candidate is strapped for cash, there are some candidates who are deliberately understating their spending reports. The Secretary of former LDP MP Kentaro Shiura, who has been implicated in the “Political slush fund” scandal, said in an earlier T?ky? District Public Prosecutors Office by the ministry, “It is customary to spend more than the amount required by law [ in elections ] . It is not possible to spell out the actual amount spent, so some amounts are not recorded.”
“If you have enough money, you can spend it in many places,” a candidate for the lower house election told the daily news, adding, “It will cost zero yen to ask the survey company to investigate the election. Internet advertising is measured in millions of yen. I would do anything to get votes.”