When submitting a political fund balance report, it is obligatory for political groups related to parliamentarians to use the online system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, but it turned out that the utilization rate of this year is only 2.7%. rice field.

It has become clear that the digitization required to increase the transparency of political funding has not yet progressed.

Political organizations list their annual income and expenses in the Political Funds Balance Report, and submit it to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications or the prefectural election commission.



Eleven years ago, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications introduced the current system of submitting income and expenditure reports online at a cost of more than 2 billion yen, and the Political Funds Control Act encourages political groups related to parliamentarians to use this system. It has been decided.



When NHK interviewed the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and all prefectures about the usage status of this year, 80 of the 2987 political groups related to parliamentarians submitted income and expenditure reports online, or 2.7%. was.



It has nearly tripled compared to last year, but usage has been sluggish even more than 10 years after its introduction.



Looking at the number of organizations that used the system by prefecture, Tokyo was 11, Kanagawa was 4, Kagawa was 3, and so on, and there were no 31 prefectures.



Most other political groups print out their income and expenditure reports and bring them to the counter.



As a result, the method of publishing the submitted political fund balance report on the Internet is in the form of scanning documents and performing it as an image, making it difficult to search and analyze data as it is.

Online submission Each party

NHKは今月、国会議員5人以上が所属する7つの政党に、政治資金収支報告書のオンライン提出について賛成かどうか取材しました。



自民党、国民民主党、共産党は賛成と答えました。



立憲民主党、公明党、日本維新の会、れいわ新選組は、条件付きで賛成と答えました。



その理由について、


▽自民党は「デジタル社会を推進していくためには、供給者目線ではなく、利便性を実感できるユーザー目線で改革を進めることが重要であり、このような基本的考え方に立ってデジタル庁の創設を進めてまいりました。オンライン提出もこうしたデジタル社会の形成に向けた取組の一環であり、賛成であります。収支報告書を作成する側にも配慮したシステムの検討が必要であると考えます」としています。



▽立憲民主党は「情報へのアクセスが容易になるメリットは大変重要である。一方で、立憲民主党は報告書作成システムを独自に開発し使用してきている。総務省が提供するソフト使用が前提となるオンライン提出に限定されるとなると、従来業務の見直しも含めた検討作業、もしくは従来業務処理と並行した新たな作業が必要となるため、即時に対応することはハードルが高い」としています。



▽公明党は「専用ソフト『会計帳簿・収支報告書作成ソフト』の使い勝手を改善したうえで、その周知徹底を図るとともに、オンライン提出の環境整備を進める必要があります」などとしています。



▽日本維新の会は「党としての見解はまとめておりません」としています。



▽国民民主党は「政治とカネの問題にかかる国民の不信感を払拭（ふっしょく）するため、政治資金の透明化に努めます」としています。



▽ The Communist Party states that "the political fund balance report of parliamentarians and their candidates should be obliged to be digitized."



▽ Reiwa Shinsengumi said, "I agree with the digitization itself. However, the submission format of the report creation software of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is not suitable for the current situation, so if you give a range to the submission format, it will be to some extent. I think it will be solved. "

Some say, "It's complicated and not easy to use."

Political organizations that have begun submitting political fund balance reports online have said that scanning documents is complicated and inconvenient.



A political organization in Nagoya City started submitting online, thinking that it would be possible to submit at a convenient time between work and that the person in charge would not have to go to the counter.

However, it was necessary to scan the receipts one by one, digitize them, register them one by one in the system, and then link them to the corresponding income and expenses one by one.



Also, when the number of income and expenditure items to be entered increases, it may take about a minute for the input of one line to be reflected, which means that Hiroto Senda, the accounting manager of the organization, felt inconvenienced.



Mr. Senda said, "If you need to register a lot of receipts as images and enter income and expenses one by one, it will be difficult to use."



Hiromichi Takashima, the accountant of a political organization in Komaki City, Aichi Prefecture, points out that the fact that he only has the opportunity to use it once a year is one of the reasons why online submissions do not increase.



Mr. Takashima said, "This system is based on spreadsheet software, but there is a high hurdle for people who do not normally use it, and since it is used only once a year, there is no room for improving skills. There is a move to use it. Is blocking. "

Digital Minister Makishima "I want to proceed with the review as necessary"

The online submission system for political fund balance reports is managed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, with the cooperation of the government's digital reform command tower and the Digital Agency.



Some have said that this system is not easy to use, and in November last year, the then Minister for Digital Transformation of Japan, Hirai, mentioned the need for a drastic review.



In addition, the "Digital Government Implementation Plan" decided by the Cabinet in December last year states that this system should be "well-known for its use and for consideration of improving user convenience". No major refurbishment has been done.



Regarding the sluggish use of the system, Digital Minister Makishima said at a press conference on the 24th of this month, "We believe that it is desirable for the system to be used by many people for its original purpose. Easy-to-use design and usability. We would like to cooperate with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, which has jurisdiction over it, as necessary to review the goodness of the product. "



The political organization represented by the Minister of Digital Makishima also does not use the system, so Minister Makishima said, "I confirmed with the office that'digitizing receipts, etc. may increase the amount of work. I didn't use it because of that. "



The Political Funds Division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications says, "We would like to continue to consider improving convenience based on various opinions so that online submissions will continue."

Many in Europe and the United States submit online for viewing and analysis from all over the world

Experts point out that knowing the income and expenditures of political groups is an important factor in voting and should be digitized so that anyone can easily check it.



According to Professor Takashi Tomisaki of Komazawa University, who is familiar with political funding, in many countries in the United States and Europe, politicians and political parties submit data on political funding and election funding online.



In the United States, the Federal Election Commission publishes the income and expenditures of presidents, the Senate, members of the House of Representatives and candidates for elections, as well as the names of individuals and companies that have donated more than a certain amount.



It can be viewed by people all over the world and is used by researchers and journalists to download, search, and analyze data.



In Japan, it takes about half a year from submission to publication of the Political Funds Balance Report, but in the United States, it will be published on the website as early as one week after submission.



Professor Tomisaki said, "In the United States and Europe, campaign funds and political funds are reported digitally, so it is possible to publish the contents as soon as possible and check income and expenditure in detail. Which party you are voting for? Knowing how you are collecting and spending money in this way is an important factor in voting, but I have to say that Japan has less publicly available information than developed countries. Online. Since submission and digitization are inextricably linked, submitting digital rather than paper should be a principle rather than an effort. Political parties should take responsibility and work with the Digital Agency to achieve this. It is. "