Japan Restoration Party member Kiyonari Maekawa was found guilty of violating the Public Offices Election Law for sending voters a letter urging them to vote for him before the 2021 House of Representatives election was publicly announced, at the Nara District Court. rejected Maekawa's claim of innocence and sentenced him to a fine of 300,000 yen.
Kiyonari Maekawa (60), a member of the House of Representatives of the Japan Restoration Party, ran for the 1st district of Nara and was re-elected through proportional representation in the 2021 House of Representatives election. For people in the ward, we mailed a form of "election postcard" and a document requesting "address writing" to fill in the name and address of an acquaintance on it and send it back.
Regarding this act, the prosecution sent it to an unspecified number of voters, and the postcards and request letters printed "Please write Maekawa Kiyoshige for the electoral district" were actually called "preliminary campaigns" to vote. He was indicted without detention for violating the Public Offices Election Law.
In this trial, Chief Judge Masahiko Sawada of the Nara District Court sentenced Senator Maekawa to a fine of 300,000 yen.
At the trial, Rep. Maekawa said, ``We asked someone from the same university to write the address, who can be expected to support us in sending postcards to voters when the election period begins, and it is a legally recognized ``preparation for the election.'' '' he claimed innocence.
Kiyonari Maekawa, Member of the House of Representatives
Kiyonari Maekawa, a member of the House of Representatives, is 60 years old from Kashihara City, Nara Prefecture.
In 2004, he ran as a candidate for the then Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) and served two terms as a member of the House of Councillors.
In the 2021 House of Representatives election, he ran as a candidate from Nara 1st District, including Nara City, with the approval of the Japan Restoration Party, and although he lost in the single-seat constituency, he was reinstated in the proportional Kinki block, which had been running for multiple candidates.
He currently serves as the representative of the Japan Restoration Party Nara Prefecture General Branch.