A Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly member was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of paying unregistered campaigners to work for him in the runup to the June election, police said.
The police arrested Shoji Saijo, a member of the Democratic Party of Japan, for allegedly violating the Public Offices Election Law.
Saijo, 54, is suspected of hiring more than 20 women to work for him as unregistered campaigners during the campaign period from June 15 to 23. He paid the women, most of them students and housewives, a total of 800,000 yen, police said.
He allegedly had the women call voters from an office in Bunkyo Ward and ask them to vote for Saijo, police said.
Saijo is suspected of conducting illegal campaigning with his official campaigner, Yoshino Namie, 61, who has already been indicted in connection with the case.
Saijo is serving his second term in the assembly. He was first elected in June 1997.