Max Vote-Value Gap Estimated at 2.274 Times for Japan Lower House

Tokyo, May 29 (Jiji Press)--Vote-value disparities between single-seat constituencies for Japan’s House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, reach up to 2.274 times, according to an estimate made based on preliminary results of the 2025 national census released by the internal affairs ministry Friday.

Thirty-nine constituencies are estimated to have vote-value gaps of over two times compared with the least populous constituency. The Supreme Court is said to find disparities of over two times unconstitutional.

The government’s council on the Lower House constituency demarcation is expected to come up with a proposal on redrawing by May 2027.

Meanwhile, the maximum estimated vote-value disparity between prefectural constituencies for the House of Councillors, the upper chamber, came to 3.189 times, according to the preliminary census results.

The largest gap for the Lower House based on preliminary outcomes of the previous 2020 census stood at 2.094 times.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]