Japan Press Weekly

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2010 November 17 - 23 [POLITICS]

Court rules vote-value disparity as unconstitutional

The Tokyo High Court ruled on November 17 that the maximum vote-value disparity of 5 to 1 in the latest House of Councilors election is unconstitutional.

This is the first court ruling recognizing the vote-value disparity in July’s Upper House election as going against the Constitution. It however turned down the claim that the election should be nullified.

Presiding Judge Minami Toshifumi said that the failure to take measures to reduce the disparity “goes beyond the Diet’s discretionary power.”

Equality of the value of votes in the Upper House election has been questioned by 19 lawsuits filed throughout the country. The Tokyo High Court on the same day decided in four other suits that the vote-value disparity was constitutional.

In September 2007, the Supreme Court ruled that the vote-value disparity in the 2007 Upper House election was constitutional while noting that the present electoral system should be revised.

The Japanese Communist Party calls for the present Upper House election system to be revised in order to guarantee the constitutional equality of vote weight. It supports the proportional representation system and opposes the reduction of Upper House seats.
- Akahata, November 18, 2010