2 More Rulings Find Japan Lower House Poll Constitutional

Tokyo, May 29 (Jiji Press)--Two Japanese high courts 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.

In the Lower House general election, the maximum vote-value disparity between the most and least populous single-seat constituencies stood at 2.1 times.

The rulings by Nagoya High Court in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, and Sapporo High Court in the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido were the ninth and 10th on a total of 16 lawsuits filed with the 14 high courts or high court branches in the country by two groups of lawyers, including one led by Hidetoshi Masunaga.

The lawyer groups demand that the results of the election be nullified, claiming that the maximum disparity in the election was against the Constitution's requirement that the value of votes be equal.

The Nagoya and Sapporo court rulings were issued over petitions lodged by the Masunaga-led group, which plans to file appeals.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]