A court ruled Tuesday that the vote weight disparity in last year's general election was "in a state of unconstitutionality" but stopped short of nullifying the outcome as sought by plaintiffs.
The ruling by the Takamatsu High Court was the first to be handed down in a slew of lawsuits filed at 14 high courts and their branches nationwide over the 2.08-fold disparity in the weight of a vote between the most and least populated single-seat constituencies in October's House of Representatives election.
In handing down the ruling, presiding Judge Ryuichi Kamiyama stated that a maximum disparity of more than two-fold creates "significant inequality in the weight of votes that cannot be overlooked."