Top court finds 2016 Upper House poll constitutional

September 28, 2017

TOKYO- Japan's Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the House of Councillors election in July 2016 was constitutional in terms of the maximum vote-value disparity.

In the election for the upper chamber of the Diet, Japan's parliament, the value of one vote in the least populous constituency was 3.08 times that of one vote in the most densely populated district.

This is the first time that the country's top court has found an Upper House election to be constitutional since such a ruling on the 2007 election, in which the maximum vote-value disparity stood at 4.86.

Wednesday's ruling was issued for a total of 16 lawsuits filed across the country by two groups of lawyers who claim that the most recent Upper House election was unconstitutional due to wide vote-value disparities. Jiji Press