The Public Offices Election Law (Law No.100 of 1950) shall be partially amended as follows:
1) In the Contents, next to"
Article 160 (Other Necessary Matters and Execution Business of Competitive Speech Meeting)
"shall be inserted"
Article 160-(2) (Free Competitives Speech Meeting under Public Management)
";and next to"
Article 166 (Prohibition of Making a Speech at a Specified Building or Facilities)
"shall be inserted"
Article 166-(2) (Prohibition of Making Speech in the street and Repeated Cry-out at Night)
".;and next to"
Article 172 (Other Necessary Matters concerning Election Gazette)
"shall be inserted"
Article 172-(2) (Publication of Free Election Gazette)
";and"
Article 177 (Facilities for Fuels and Papers and Return thereof)
"shall be amended as"
Article 177 (Facilities for Fuels and Papers, and Return as well as Prohibition of Transfer thereof)
";and next to
"Article 270 (Relation between Overseas Repatriations or Persons receiving Hospital Treatment and the Domicile Requisites)
"shall be inserted"
Article 270-(2) (Time for Report, etc. concerning Election)
".
2) In Article 33 paragraph 3, "elections in To, Do, Fu" shall be amended as "elections of governors of To, Do, Fu" , and "elections in, city, town and village" shall be amended as "elections of assembly-men of To, Do, Fu and prefectures as well as elections in city, town and village" , and paragraph 7 of the same Article shall be amended as follows:
7. The public notification of the date of usual election shall be done at least thirty (30) days in advance in the case of election of members of the boards of education of To, Do, Fu or prefecture and at least twenty (20) days in advance in the case of election of members of the boards of education of city, town and village.
3) In Article 34 paragraph 6, "members of assembly or governor of To, Do, Fu and prefecture as well as" shall be amended as "governor of To, Do, Fu and prefectures and" , and "members of assembly and chief of city, town and village as well as" shall be amended as "members, of assembly of To, Do, Fu and prefectures, members of assembly and chief of city, town and village and" .
4) The following proviso shall be added to Article 40:
However, the election administration commission of city, town and village may carry up or down the time to open or to close the polling place by not exceeding two (2) hours, having obtained in advance the permission of the election administration commission of To, Do, Fu or prefecture, only in the case where there exist special circumstances deemed not to disturb the electors from voting.
Next to the same Article, the following one paragraph shall be added:
2 In the case of proviso to the preceding paragraph, the election administration commission of city, town and village shall make a public notification to such effect as well as so notify the voting-overseer of the polling place concerned.
5) In Article 49, "the causes mentioned below" shall be amended as "any of the causes mentioned below" and "Article 45 paragraph 1 (Handing over of Ballots)" shall be amended as "Article 45 (Handing over and Form of Ballots)" and in items (2) and (3) "Besides the cases mentioned in the preceding item," shall be deleted, and the following one item shall be added to the same Article:
(4) The elector is required to be dwelling or staying or performing his duty or engaging in his business in or at an island which accessibility is extremely scarece or any other areas to be designated by the National Election Administration Commission.
6) In Article 89 paragraph 1 item (2), "talented persons" shall be deleted and item (3) of the same paragraph shall be amended as follows:
(3) Persons in temporary or part-time service to be designated by a Cabinet Order from among those who are in the offices in full-time service of committee members, advisers, councillors, non-staff members and other offices corresponding to these as mentioned above.
In Article 89 paragraph 1, item (4) shall be amended as follows: (4) The Chief of "Shobodan" (fire defence corp), other members of "Shobodan" (excluding the members of full-time services) and the Chief of "Suibodan" (flood defence corp), and other members of "Suibodan" (excluding the members of full-time services).
The following one item shall be added to paragraph 1 of the same Article:
(5) Personnel who are engaged in the public enterprises provided for in paragraph 20 of the Supplementary Provisions of the Local Public Service Law (Law No.261 of 1.950) and designated by Cabinet Order.
In paragraph 3 of the same Article, "and 4" shall be amended as "(4) and (5)" .
7) Article 119 paragraph 3 shall be amended as follows:
3 The date of elections simultaneously held under the provision of paragraph 1, of the assembly-members and governors of To, Do, Fu and prefectures or of the members of boards of education and the date of election under the provision of the preceding paragraph shall be notified to. the public at least thirty (30) days in advance (in the case where the election of assembly-members of To, Do, Fu and prefectures and election in city, town and village are held simultaneously, twenty (20) days in advance) by the election administration commission of To, Do, Fu and prefectures.
8) In Article 141 paragraph 1, "a governor of To, Do, Fu or prefecture or members of To, Do, Fu or prefectural boards of education" and "a governor of To, Do, Fu or prefecture or a member of the prefectural board of education" shall be amended as "members of assemblies, governor and members of boards of education of To, Do, Fu and prefectures, members of city assembly, mayor and members of board of education of a city"
9) The following three items shall be added to Article 142 paragraph 1:
(4) In the election of assembly members of To, Do, Fu and prefectures, twenty thousand (20,000) postcards may be distributed per candidate for the said public office;
(5) As to the election in a city mentioned in Article 155 paragraph 2 of the Local Autonomy Law (Designated City with wards), in the election of the mayor, ten thousand (10,000) postcards may be distributed;in the election of the assembly-members, one thousand postcards;in the election of members of the board of education, three thousands (3,000) postcards may be distributed per candidate for each public office. However, in the election of the chief of a local public body mentioned in Article 117 paragraph 1, two thousands (2,000) postcards may be distributed per candidate for the public office;
(6) As to the election in cities other than those mentioned in the preceding item, in the election of mayor, two thousand (2,000) postcards;in the election of assembly-members, five hundred (500) postcards;and in the election of members of the board of education, one thousand (1,000) postcards may be distributed per candidate for each public office.
However, in the election of the chief mentioned in Article 117 paragraph 1, three hundred (300) postcards may be distributed per candidate for the public office.
Paragraph 2 of the same Article shall be amended as follows: 2 Of the postcards mentioned in the preceding paragraph, those mentioned in items (1) to (3) inclusive of the same paragraph, shall be free of charge and those mentioned in items (4) to (6) inclusive shall be chargeable, and either of them shall be marked for use of election, being discriminated by the Ministry of Postal Services free or chargeable.
10) In Article 143 paragraph 1 item (4) "competitive speech meetings with public fund as prescribed by Article 152 (Election for which Competitive Speech under Public Management shall be Held)" shall be amended as "competitive speech meetings under Article 152 (Obligatory Competitive Speech Meeting under Public Management) or Article 160-(2)(Free Competitive Speech Meeting under Public Management)"
11) The following one item shall be added to Article 144 paragraph 1:
(5) As to the election mentioned in Article 117 paragraph 1 (Case of Decisive Vote), in the election of governors of To, Do, Fu and prefectures, five hundred (500) postcards;in the election of mayors of the cities mentioned in Article 155 paragraph 2 of the Local Autonomy Law, three hundred (300) postcards, in the election of mayors of other cities one hundred (100) postcards and in the election of chiefs of towns and villages, twenty (20) postcards may be distributed per candidate for each public office regardless of provisions of items (1), (3) and the preceding item.
12) In the proviso to Article 147 paragraph 2, "the election day" shall be amended as "the day immediately before the election day and the election day" .
13) Next to Article 160, the following one Article shall be added:
(Free Competitive Speech Meeting under Public Management)
Article 160-(2). In the election of chief of city, town and village (excluding election mentionen in Article 117 paragraph 1 (case of decisive vote)), the city, town and village may hold competitive speech meetings in accordance with the provision of by-law and according to the provisions of Articles 155 to 158 inclusive (procedures to hold competitive speech meeting).
2 The provisions of Article 154 (Speakers in a Competitive Speech Meeting) and Article 159 (Maintenance of Order in Competitive Speech Meeting Hall) shall apply mutatis mutandis to the competitive speech meeting held under the provision of the preceding paragraph.
14) In Article 165, "a competitive speech meeting as provided for by this law" shall be amended as "a competitive speech meeting as mentioned in Article 152 (Obligatory Competitive Speech under Public Management)) or Article 160-(2)(Free Competitive Speech under Public Management)" .
15) In Article 166, "in case a competitive speech meeting or an individual election speech takes place in accordance with this law" shall be amended as "to. a competitive speech meeting as mentioned in Article 152 (Obligatory Competitive Speech Meeting under Public Management) or Article 160-(2)(Free Competitive Speech Meeting under Public Management) or individual election speech meeting under this Law."
16) The following one Article shall be added next to Article 166:
(Prohibition of Making Speech in the Street and Repeated Cry-out at Night)
Article 166-(2). No person shall make speech in the street or cry out repeatedly the name of the specified candidate or the name of political party or other political bodies for the purpose of election campaign during the time from 10 o'clock p. m. to 6 o'clock a. m. of the following day.
17) Next to Article 172 the following one Article shall be added:
(Issuance of the Free Election Gazette)
Article 172-(2). In the election (excluding the by-election due to invalidity of a part of election and the election mentioned in Article 117 paragraph 1 (case of decisive vote)) of mayor of the city mentioned in Article 155 paragraph 2 (Designated city with wards) of the Local Autonomy Law, the election administration commission of the city May issue the election gazette in accordance with the provisions of by-law according to Articles 167 to 171 inclusive (Procedures of Issuance of Election Gazette).
18) In Article 173 paragraph 1, "In the election for members of the House of Representatives, members of the House of Councillors, governors of To, Do, Fu or prefecture and members of the boards of education of To, Do, Fu or prefecture" shall be amended as "In case an election is held" , and paragraph 2 of the same Article shall be amended as follows:
2 The notice mentioned in the preceding paragraph shall be made at the entrance of the polling place or other place easily to be seen by the people in the election of members of House of Representatives, members (from prefectural constituency) of House of Councillors, governors of To, Do, Fu and prefectures and members of boards of education of To, Do, Fu and prefectures at more than three and less than five places;and in the election of members (from national constituency) of House of Councillors, assembly-members of To, Do, Fu and prefectures, assembly-members of city, town and village, chief of city, town and village, members of board of Education of city, town and village and in the election mentioned in Article 117 paragraph 1 (case of decisive vote for chief), at one place.
19) The title of Article 177 shall be amended as (Facilities for Fuels and Papers and Return as well as Prohibition of Transfer thereof) and in paragraph 1 of the same Article, "gasoline or other kinds of fuel for automobiles according to the provisions of paragraph 1 of Article 141 (Utilization of Automobiles for Election Campaign)" shall be amended as "gasoline or other kinds of automobile fuels for use of the automobiles used in election of members of House of Representatives, members of House of Councillors, governor of To, Do, Fu and prefectures and members of boards of education of To, Do, Fu and prefectures under the provisions of Article 141 paragraph 1 (in the case of utilization in election campaign)" .
In paragraph 2 of the same Article, "gasoline or other fuels for automobiles" shall be amended as "the postcards mentioned in Article 142 paragraph 1 items (1) to (3) inclusive (free postcards) or persons who have received gasoline or other kind of automobile fuels," and the following one paragraph shall be added to the same Article:
3 The persons who have. received postcards for use in election campaign under the provisions of Article 142 paragraphs 1 and 2 (postcards), the persons who have been provided with special tickets and commutation tickets in accordance with the provision of paragraph 1 of the preceding Article or the persons who have received the delivery of or have been provided with gasoline or other kind of automobile fuel or paper in accordance with the provision of paragraph 1 of the preceding Article, shall not transfer it to another person.
20) The following proviso shall be added to Article 197 paragraph 1 item (3):
However, payment required for automobile, used in the election of assembly-members of To, Do, Fu and prefectures, assembly-members of cities, chief of city other than the city mentioned in Article 155 paragraph 2 (the designated city with wards) of the Local Autonomy Law and members of board of education of a city shall be excluded.
In paragraph 2 of the same Article, "and members of boards of education of To, Do, Fu and prefectures" shall be amended as "members of boards of education and chief of the city mentioned in Article 155 paragraph 2 of the Local Autonomy Law," and "(Utilization for Election Campaign)" shall be deleted.
21) In Article 243 item (8), "paragraph 1 or paragraph 2" shall be amended as "(including the case of mutatis mutandis application in Article 160-(2) paragraph 2 (Free Competitive Speech Meeting under Public Management))" .
22) In Article 244 item (5), next to "(Maintenance of Order in the Competitive Speech Meeting Hall)" shall be added "(including cases of mutatis mutandis application in Article 160-(2) paragraph 2 (Free Competitive Speech Meeting under Public Management))" .
Item (6) of the same Article shall be made item (7) and the following one item shall be added next to item (5) of the same Article:
(6) The person who has violated the provision of Article 166-(2)(Prohibition of Making Speech in the Street and Repeated Cry-out at Night).
The following one item shall be added to the same Article:
(8) The person who has transferred violating the provision of Article 177 paragraph 3 (Prohibition of Transfer of Post-Card, Ticket, Fuels, Papers, etc.).
23) In Article 264 paragraph 1 item (1), "and item 10" shall be amended as "item (10) and item (11)" , and in paragraph 2 of the same Article, "item 11" shall be deleted, and paragraph 3 of the same Article shall be made paragraph 4, and the following one paragraph shall be inserted next to paragraph 2 of the same Article:
3 Expenditure required for holding of competitive speech meetings in accordance with the provision of Article 160-(2)(Free Competitive Speech Meeting under Public Management) and expenditure required for issuance of election gazette in accordance with the provision of Article 172-(2)(Issuance of Free Election Gazettee) shall be borne by the city, town or village concerned.
24) In Article 269, "in accordance with the provision of a Cabinet Order" shall be added next to "in the cities concerned" .
25) Next to Article 270, the following one Article shall be inserted:
(Time of Report, etc. concerning Election)
Article 270-(2). Report, request, proposal and other act to be done to election administration commission, voting overseers, ballot-counting overseer, election meeting chairman and election sub-meeting chairman, etc. under the provision of this Law or the order based upon this Law shall be done between 8:30 a. m. to 5:00 p. m.
26) The following one paragraph shall be added to the Supplementary Provisions:
6 Concerning the application of the provision of Article 15 paragraph 1 and Appendix No.1, Kuroshima, Takeshima and Iogashima out of Jitto-mura under Jurisdiction of Oshimashicho shall be regarded as belonging to Kagoshima-gun, Kagoshima Prefecture for a time being.