The most expensive election on Earth...America's Election Cost Dilemma

[Anchor]
As the U.S. presidential election is nearing its end, the astronomical election cost issue is also controversial.

There are also criticisms of high-cost and low-efficiency elections in the United States, but there seems to be no right way to improve them right away.

I'm a YouTube reporter on the report.

[Reporter]
The cost of elections in the United States, which has snowballed over the years, has broken records again this time.

This year's election cost, estimated by non-profit organizations in the United States, exceeded $15.9 billion, or 22 trillion won in our money.

Considering inflation, it's slightly less than in 2020.

The overwhelming cost of elections in the United States is even more pronounced compared to other countries.

The cost of per capita elections, which was similar a few decades ago, is now 27 times higher than Canada and 40 times higher than Britain and Germany.

With astronomical costs, U.S. candidates are bound to make every effort to raise money for their campaigns.

As such, there is a growing tendency to rely on very rich people such as Elon Musk, and they are becoming vulnerable to various lobbying.

In the last 20 years, the wealthiest people who have donated more than a million dollars in political funds have nearly doubled, and the amount has increased 40 times.

Many Americans are also concerned about this reality.

Eighty-five percent of Americans said it was difficult to get good politicians because of the cost of the election, and 72 percent said they should limit the cost of the election.

The enormous cost of elections in the United States is the result of a combination of vast territories, expensive advertising markets, and party primaries.

What has had a decisive impact is the Supreme Court's ruling on freedom of expression.

Several attempts to legislate to regulate the cost of elections in the federal parliament have been blocked by unconstitutional decisions.

Rather, in 2010, companies and unions ruled that they had the right to enjoy freedom of expression like individuals, allowing them to donate unlimited funds.

[Park Hong-min, professor of Wisconsin State University] He ruled that it's the same thing as someone who has a lot of time volunteering to campaign or someone who has a lot of money donating money. Since then, money has been spent astronomically and has been increasing with each election.]

After all, unless there is a dramatic opportunity, the U.S. will have no choice but to continue to worry about the cost of the election.

It's YTN YouTube.