広島高裁は「合憲」　７月参院選、１票の格差

　「１票の格差」が最大３．０３倍だった７月の参院選は投票価値の平等を定めた憲法に違反するとして、弁護士らのグループが選挙無効を求めた訴訟の判決が９日、広島高裁であった。西井和徒裁判長は選挙を「合憲」と判断し、請求を棄却した。
　西井裁判長は、参院改革協議会や憲法審査会で選挙制度について意見交換などが行われており、格差是正に向けた国会の姿勢が失われていたとまでは言えないと指摘。３年前の前回選挙と同じ定数配分で最大格差（３．００倍）は拡大したものの、「著しい不平等状態にあったとは言えない」と結論付けた。
　二つの弁護士グループが全国の高裁・支部に起こした計１６件の訴訟で１２件目の判決で、「違憲」１件、「違憲状態」５件、「合憲」６件となった。１５日までに高裁判決が出そろい、その後、最高裁が統一判断を示す見通し。（2022/11/09-17:13）

Hiroshima High Court on Wednesday became the sixth court to find the House of Councillors election in July constitutional in terms of vote-value disparities.
   The ruling was the 12th decision on a total of 16 lawsuits that have been filed with high courts and high court branches across the country by two groups of lawyers who claim that the election with the maximum vote-value gap of 3.03 times was unconstitutional.
   The court in the western Japan city of Hiroshima rejected the plaintiffs' demand to nullify the results of the election for the upper chamber of the Diet, the country's parliament.
   With Wednesday's ruling, one court has found the poll unconstitutional, five have said that the election was held in a state of unconstitutionality and six have ruled the poll to be constitutional.
   The Supreme Court has ruled that the Upper House polls in 2010 and 2013, whose maximum vote-value disparity stood at 5.00 times and 4.77 times, respectively, were held in a state of unconstitutionality.