4th Japan 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…READ FULL ARTICLE