Association for Bringing Citizens and Elections Closer
Saitama City
The Association for Bringing Citizens and Elections Closer is a citizens' group formed to bring politics closer to citizens in Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture, and to raise citizens' awareness of political participation.
Since Saitama City became an ordinance-designated city, the voter turnout has been on a downward trend, with 38.16% in the most recent city council member election in 2019, a clear trend compared to the turnout in the city council member election (47.15%) immediately after the city became an ordinance-designated city.
We feel a sense of crisis over this situation, which could be called "citizens' disengagement from city politics," and as a means of bringing politics closer to citizens and raising their awareness of political participation, we will conduct a questionnaire survey of all candidates for the Saitama City Council member election to be held in April 2023, and use the responses obtained as a basis for making a decision on how to vote. The answers will be made available to the public after March 31, 2023, the date of the announcement of the election, as material for making voting decisions.
Questionnaire
The questionnaire will consist of the following questions
First, please tell us about yourself.
What motivated you to become a city council member?
Do you have a motto?
If you were to use Doraemon's tool for politics, what would it be?
What means do you usually use to listen to the voices of citizens and how do you report on your political activities?
In a few words, what kind of district would you describe the district in which you are running for office?
Who do you think is responsible for the lack of voter turnout? (Councilors, city government, candidates, public awareness, etc.)
What is the first thing you would like to do after being elected?
If you had to eliminate two current policies for the sake of one thing you want to do, what would you stop doing?
Next, please tell us your thoughts on the issues facing the city as a whole.
What do you think is the biggest problem in Saitama City?
What do you think should be done to solve it?
What kind of city do you want to make Saitama City in the next 10 years?
Finally, please tell us what appeals to you.