Court rules Dec. election invalid over vote disparity

HIROSHIMA, Japan - Tetsuya Kanao, one of the lawyers who filed a lawsuit claiming the general election held in December 2012 was invalid due to significant disparities in the weight of votes, holds a press conference in Hiroshima on March 25, 2013, after the local high court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. The Hiroshima High Court ruled the same day that the results of the election in Hiroshima's No. 1 and 2 districts were invalid, becoming the first court in Japan to declare an election result void amid a series of lawsuits over disparities in the weight of votes.

Sample
PDF Preview

Product Code
ILEA001180661

Registered date
2013/3/25 00:00:00

Credit
Kyodo / Kyodo News Images

Media source
2013 Kyodo News

Media size
1675 × 2203 pixel

Resolution
240 dpi

Deployment size
483.78(KB)*

Special instruction

*File size when opened in Photoshop, etc.

Similar Images & Videos

4th court rules Oct. election vote gap in unconstitutional state

A Japanese court ruled Tuesday that the vote weight disparity in last October's lower house election was "in a state of unconstitutionality" but stopped short of nullifying the outcome, becoming the fourth court to make such a decision. The ruling by the Akita branch of the Sendai High Court in northeastern Japan was the eighth to be handed down in a slew of lawsuits filed by groups of lawyers at 14 high courts and their branches nationwide over the 2.08-fold vote weight disparity in the Oct. 31 House of Representatives election. Among the seven high court rulings handed down by Monday, three ruled the results were "in a state of unconstitutionality" but stopped short of nullifying the outcome, while four dismissed the suits, saying the election was constitutional. All the high court rulings will be completed by March 9, after which the Supreme Court is expected to make a unified decision.

Lawyers file suits seeking annulment of general election

OKAYAMA, Japan - A group of lawyers heads for the Okayama branch of the Hiroshima High Court in the western Japan city of Okayama on Dec. 15, 2014, to file a lawsuit, seeking the annulment of the previous day's general election, which was held without correcting the vote-value disparity.

2013 election vote gap in state of unconstitutionality

TOKYO, Japan - Lawyer Hidetoshi Masunaga (C) meets with reporters on Nov. 26, 2014, in Tokyo, after Japan's Supreme Court ruled the disparity in the weight of votes in the 2013 House of Councillors election is in a state of unconstitutionality. Masunaga filed the lawsuit together with other lawyers.

Lawyers make final plea to nullify 2013 poll results

TOKYO, Japan - Photo taken Oct. 29, 2014, shows the grand bench of Japan's Supreme Court in Tokyo, at which two groups of lawyers made their final plea over lawsuits they have filed to nullify the results of the 2013 upper house election because of the disparity in the weight of votes.

Lawyers make final plea to nullify 2013 poll results

Suit over Abe's Yasukuni visit

TOKYO, Japan - Plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the state and Yasukuni Shrine hold a press conference in Tokyo on April 21, 2014. The 273 plaintiffs including relatives of the war dead, religious people and South Koreans filed the lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court the same day, claiming Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit in December 2013 to the Shinto shrine was unconstitutional.

Osaka court rules July election vote gap unconstitutional

OSAKA, Japan - Lawyers hold a sign saying the Osaka High Court has ruled the July 2013 House of Councillors election unconstitutional, in front of the court in Osaka on Dec. 18, 2013. The high court said the disparity of up to 4.77-fold in the weight of votes in the election was unconstitutional but dismissed the plaintiffs' demand that election results in six western Japan constituencies be nullified.

High court's ruling on upper house polls

HIROSHIMA, Japan - Photo taken Dec. 5, 2013, shows a courtroom of the Hiroshima High Court in the city of Hiroshima, where the court ruled the same day the disparity in the weight of votes in July's House of Councillors election was "in a state of unconstitutionality," while dismissing the plaintiffs' demand that the electoral results in two western Japan constituencies -- Hiroshima and Yamaguchi prefectures -- be nullified. (Pool photo)

Court voids poll in western Japan constituency

OKAYAMA, Japan - Lawyers smile outside the Okayama branch of the Hiroshima High Court on Nov. 28, 2013, after the court ruled that the result in the Okayama constituency in July's House of Councillors election should be invalidated due to an unconstitutional disparity in the weight of votes. The decision is the first ruling among 14 similar lawsuits filed with high courts across Japan by groups of lawyers, who have argued the disparity up to 4.77-fold in the July 21 upper house election is against the equal-protection clause under the Constitution.

Top court's decision on 2012 election

TOKYO, Japan - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe answers a reporter's question in Tokyo on Nov. 20, 2013, following the same day's Supreme Court's decision on the House of Representatives election in December 2012. The top court ruled that disparities of up to 2.43 times in the weight of votes in the election were "in a state of unconstitutionality." Abe told reporters that he takes the ruling seriously and will closely examine it.