Court Finds July Upper House Poll in Unconstitutional State

Kanazawa, Ishikawa Pref., Oct. 29 (Jiji Press)--The Kanazawa branch of Nagoya High Court on Wednesday ruled that the July election for the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of Japan’s parliament, was conducted in a state of unconstitutionality due to vote-value disparities.

A group of lawyers, including Hidetoshi Masunaga, sought to invalidate the election, which had a maximum vote-value disparity of 3.13 times. Presiding Judge Kazuaki Ono dismissed the claim.

It was the second ruling on 16 lawsuits filed with 14 high courts or high court branches across the country by two groups of lawyers. Last week, Osaka High Court ruled the election constitutional.

No review of the electoral system has been conducted since the previous 2022 Upper House election, which the Supreme Court ruled constitutional. The focus was on how the high court branch would assess the widening of the maximum vote-value gap from 3.03 times in the 2022 election.

The disparity was reduced from about five times to some three times with the 2015 revision of the public offices election law, but Ono noted that the gap is gradually widening.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]