The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the 2007 Upper House election results were valid, rejecting a claim by lawyers that the disparity in the relative weight of some votes in the election was large enough to violate the Constitution, which guarantees equal rights under the law.
The lawyers from Tokyo and Kanagawa prefectures sought the annulment of the July 27, 2007, House of Councilors election, arguing the number of eligible voters per seat in constituencies varied greatly, with the Kanagawa constituency having 4.86 times more voters than the less-populous Tottori constituency.
Previous top court rulings indicate the line between constitutionality and unconstitutionality in terms of voting weight is somewhere around six times for the Upper House and three times for the Lower House.
Voters have repeatedly filed lawsuits over the issue for years, with the latest suits filed earlier this week hitting five courts around the country.
The election law designates high courts as the court of first instance for trials concerning the validity of an election.