TOKYO, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that the up to 3.03-fold vote disparity in the July 2022 upper house election was constitutional.
The top court's Grand Bench rejected the plaintiffs' call for the results of the election for the House of Councillors, the upper house of the Japanese Diet, to be nullified, who had claimed that the poll violated the Constitution due to wide vote-value gaps.
"The value of votes cannot be said to be in a significantly unequal state," the ruling said, noting that the integration of the constituencies had caused voting rates among the residents to decline and the country's further efforts to review the electoral constituencies and narrow the gap require time.
The top court's decision followed 16 rulings from lower courts, with one saying the gap was unconstitutional and eight calling it in a "state of unconstitutionality." The remainder said it was constitutional.
The top court has never nullified the results of a national election but ruled the 5-fold and 4.77-fold disparities in the 2010 and 2013 upper house contests were in a "state of unconstitutionality."
Upper house lawmakers are elected to six-year terms, and around half of the 248-member chamber is up for an election every three years. ■