11th Ruling Finds Japan Lower House Poll Constitutional

Tokyo, June 5 (Jiji Press)–The Akita branch of Sendai High Court on Friday found the Feb. 8 election of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of Japanese parliament, constitutional in terms of vote-value disparities. Presiding Judge Naoto Ogawa dismissed a petition by a group of lawyers led by Hidetoshi Masunaga claiming the election with a maximum vote-value gap of 2.1 times was unconstitutional in light of equality in vote value and its results should be nullified. The plaintiffs plan to file an appeal. The latest ruling was the 11th for a total of 16 lawsuits filed with 14 high courts and high court branches across the country by two groups of lawyers. All 11 ruled that the election was constitutional. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]