December 29, 2009
The Osaka High Court has ruled that now that the disparity in the value of votes cast in single-seat constituencies in the August 2009 House of Representatives election reached 2.3-to-1, the election was unconstitutional.
The ruling on December 28, however, rejected the demand filed by a man of Minoh City, Osaka Prefecture that the election be annulled because a reelection, if held, will seriously harm the public interest.
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Regarding the Osaka High Court ruling on vote disparity, Japanese Communist Party Electoral Bureau director Ohata Motoo on December 28 issued the following statement:
The Osaka High Court ruled that the August 30 House of Representatives general election was unconstitutional because the disparity in the value of votes cast in single-seat constituencies reached 2.3-to-1. This was the first ruling declaring a general election to be unconstitutional since the 1994 introduction of the current election system which combines single-seat constituencies and proportional representation constituencies. In the light of the constitutional principle guaranteeing equality in exercising the right to vote and in the value of each vote, this ruling is reasonable.
The single-seat constituency system cannot accurately reflect the public will. In addition to this problem, the failure to solve the value of each vote with the rezoning of electoral districts also shows the contradiction inherent in the single-seat constituency system. The Japanese Communist Party continues to demand that the system be abolished and the current electoral system be drastically revised to one centered on the proportional-representation system in order to accurately reflect the public will.
- Akahata, December 29, 2009
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Regarding the Osaka High Court ruling on vote disparity, Japanese Communist Party Electoral Bureau director Ohata Motoo on December 28 issued the following statement:
The Osaka High Court ruled that the August 30 House of Representatives general election was unconstitutional because the disparity in the value of votes cast in single-seat constituencies reached 2.3-to-1. This was the first ruling declaring a general election to be unconstitutional since the 1994 introduction of the current election system which combines single-seat constituencies and proportional representation constituencies. In the light of the constitutional principle guaranteeing equality in exercising the right to vote and in the value of each vote, this ruling is reasonable.
The single-seat constituency system cannot accurately reflect the public will. In addition to this problem, the failure to solve the value of each vote with the rezoning of electoral districts also shows the contradiction inherent in the single-seat constituency system. The Japanese Communist Party continues to demand that the system be abolished and the current electoral system be drastically revised to one centered on the proportional-representation system in order to accurately reflect the public will.
- Akahata, December 29, 2009
