By the 30th, all prefectures will publish last year's Political Funds Balance Report, which political organizations submit to reveal their income and expenditures to the public.


The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has requested that we consider publishing on the Internet, but five prefectures still do not support it online, and experts point out that it is necessary to publish it on the Internet uniformly nationwide.

The prefectural election commissions and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications receive and publish political fund balance reports from approximately 60,000 political organizations nationwide once a year.



The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications notified prefectures 17 years ago to actively consider publishing on the Internet, and 42 prefectures have posted the income and expenditure report on their website.



However, the five prefectures of Niigata, Ishikawa, Hyogo, Hiroshima, and Fukuoka still do not support it, and you need to go to the prefectural facilities such as the prefectural office to view the income and expenditure report.



Five years ago, the number of prefectures that did not publish online increased to 20 prefectures, but it has decreased year by year. ..



Professor Takashi Tomisaki of Komazawa University, who is familiar with political funding, said, "The Political Funds Control Act has the primary purpose of opening up and showing voters how political funding was used. Explained by politicians and political parties. It is very unfair that important materials for fulfilling responsibilities cannot be seen online in only some areas. It is necessary to respond to the times and publish them uniformly nationwide. " ..

"Not compatible with the Internet" 5 prefectures The reason is

We interviewed the persons in charge of five prefectures who did not publish the political fund balance report on the Internet.



Niigata Prefecture says, "There is a shortage of personnel. I would like to publish it online in the future, but no specific policy has been decided."



Ishikawa Prefecture states that "there is a shortage of personnel and there is no know-how to publish the income and expenditure report on the website."



Hyogo Prefecture says, "We will continue to consider it because we have a shortage of personnel and the system is inadequate, and we want to make a careful decision about the disclosure of personal information such as donors on the Internet."



Hiroshima Prefecture states, "We have released a summary of the overall status of the income and expenditure report. It is difficult for personnel to publish all the reports online."



Fukuoka Prefecture says, "We couldn't build a system due to a shortage of personnel due to the overlap of the House of Representatives elections. We will continue to consider it in the future."

Governor Saito of Hyogo Prefecture "Discussion in the election commission based on the flow of the times"

Regarding the fact that the political fund balance report has not been published on the Internet, Governor Saito of Hyogo Prefecture explained that the reason was that there was a shortage of staff to handle paperwork. Making it widely accessible is a trend of the times. "



The Political Funds Balance Report has notified the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications to actively consider publishing on the Internet to all prefectures nationwide in 2004, but Hyogo Prefecture has released it on the Internet. I saw it off.



Regarding this, Governor Saito explained at a press conference the other day that the lack of staff to handle paperwork is the reason why it is not open to the public on the Internet.



On top of that, "Opening information to the public in various ways to make it easier to access more widely is a trend of the times, and it is an important point to create that environment. Based on that trend, the Prefectural Election Commission I want you to discuss it firmly, "he said, and expressed his hope for the progress of the discussion in the future.