Politics & Government

Diet Committee OK’s Bill on Election Poster Dignity; Candidates’ Names to be More Clearly Displayed

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
An election poster board set up for last summer’s Tokyo gubernatorial election campaign is seen with illustrations that are unrelated to the election occupying space that was intended for actual campaign posters. Certain parts of this photo have been obscured.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:34 JST, February 26, 2025

The House of Representatives’ Special Committee on Political Reform approved on Tuesday a bill to demand a certain degree of dignity regarding posters for election campaigns.

The bill to revise the Public Offices Election Law for the purpose was voted for by the Liberal Democratic Party, Komeito, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the Japan Innovation Party and others.

The special committee also adopted an additional resolution demanding that relevant authorities should quickly make utmost efforts to properly deal with such problems as the deliberate spreading of false information via social media.

The bill is expected to be made into law by the end of the current Diet session.

The bill to revise the law adds a clause that names of candidates should be printed in an easier-to-notice way and stipulates that those who engage in profit-seeking activities using election posters will face a fine of up to ¥1 million.

The additional resolution calls for “necessary measures” in terms of needed restrictions on certain social media postings and on candidates who run with no intention of winning themselves as a stratagem to help another candidate win.