7th Ruling Finds Japan Upper House Poll in Unconstitutional State

Sapporo, Nov. 10 (Jiji Press)–Sapporo High Court ruled Monday that the July 20 election for the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet, Japan’s parliament, was conducted “in a state of unconstitutionality” due to vote-value disparities. This was the seventh ruling finding that the election was held in an unconstitutional state. A total of 16 lawsuits were filed by two groups of lawyers over the election with 14 high courts and high court branches. Four rulings had found the election constitutional. The high court in the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido, however, dismissed a demand by a group of lawyers, including Hidetoshi Masunaga, that the results of the election, which had a maximum vote-value gap of 3.13 times, be nullified. The 2022 House of Councillors election, in which the maximum vote-value gap was 3.03 times, was deemed constitutional by the Supreme Court. Delivering the ruling Monday, Kiyofumi Saito, presiding judge at the Sapporo court, said that a vote-value disparity of about three times between constituencies creates “a significant imbalance in voting value” that cannot be tolerated as a permanent state. He added that the lack of direction for measures to correct vote-value disparities cannot be justified and that the situation “has reached a stage where it should be judged that the Diet is legally responsible for rectifying the gaps immediately.” But there are substantial difficulties in correcting vote-value gaps, due to such factors as population decline and fluctuation, as well as social changes, and it takes time to resolve the gaps accordingly, Saito said, concluding that the election did not amount to unconstitutionality. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]