The Fukuoka High Court ruled Wednesday that the December 2014 Lower House general election was unconstitutional due to a disparity in the weight of votes between districts, the first such judgment in a series of similar lawsuits filed at high courts nationwide.

However, the three-judge panel led by presiding Judge Yutaka Takano turned down the plaintiffs' demand to nullify the election results.

According to government data, the vote-value disparity in the election was 2.13-fold between the Tokyo No. 1 district, the country's most populous single-seat constituency, and the Miyagi No. 5 district.