5th Ruling Finds Japan Lower House Poll Constitutional

Osaka, May 22 (Jiji Press)--Osaka High Court ruled Friday that the Feb. 8 election for Japan's House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, was constitutional in terms of vote-value disparities.

Presiding Judge Eiji Morisaki dismissed a claim by a group of lawyers led by Hidetoshi Masunaga that sought to invalidate the results of the general election. The plaintiffs argued that the maximum vote-value disparity of 2.1 times in the election failed to meet the constitutional requirement that the value of votes should be equal.

The plaintiffs plan to file an appeal with the Supreme Court.

It was the fifth ruling on a total of 16 lawsuits filed with the country's 14 high courts and high court branches by two groups of lawyers including the Masunaga-led group.

All four previous rulings, issued by Takamatsu High Court, Fukuoka High Court, the Naha branch of the Fukuoka court and Tokyo High Court, found the election constitutional.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]