As Reported by the Senate State and Local Government and Veterans Affairs Committee

128th General Assembly
Regular Session
2009-2010
Sub. S. J. R. No. 5


Senator Husted 

Cosponsors: Senators Patton, Niehaus, Wagoner, Goodman, Widener, Schuring, Stewart, Schaffer, Seitz, Grendell 


A JOINT RESOLUTION
Proposing to amend Sections 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 1
11, 12, 13, and 15 of Article XI, to amend, for 2
the purpose of adopting new Section numbers as 3
indicated in parentheses, Sections 5 (4), 6 (5), 7 4
(6), 8 (7), 10 (8), 11 (9), 12 (11), 13 (12), and 5
15 (13) of Article XI, to enact new Section 10 of 6
Article XI, and to repeal Sections 4, 9, and 14 of 7
Article XI of the Constitution of the State of 8
Ohio to revise the redistricting process for 9
General Assembly and Congressional districts.10

       Be it resolved by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, 11
three-fifths of the members elected to each house concurring 12
herein, that there shall be submitted to the electors of the 13
state, in the manner prescribed by law at a special election to 14
be held on May 4, 2010, a proposal to amend Sections 1, 2, 3, 5, 15
6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 15 of Article XI, to amend, for the 16
purpose of adopting new Section numbers as indicated in 17
parentheses, Sections 5 (4), 6 (5), 7 (6), 8 (7), 10 (8), 11 (9), 18
12 (11), 13 (12), and 15 (13) of Article XI, and to enact new 19
Section 10 of Article XI of the Constitution of the State of Ohio 20
to read as follows:21

1.  The governor, auditor of state, secretary of 22
state, one person chosen by the speaker of the house of 23
representatives and the leader in the senate of the political 24
party of which the speaker is a member, and one person chosen by 25
the legislative leaders in the two houses of the major political26
party of which the speaker is not a member shall be the persons 27
responsible for the apportionment of this state for members of the 28
general assembly.29

       Such persons, or a majority of their number, shall meet and 30
establish in the manner prescribed in this Article the boundaries 31
for each of ninety-nine house of representatives districts and 32
thirty-three senate districts. Such meeting shall convene on a 33
date designated by the governor between August 1 and October 1 in 34
the year one thousand nine hundred seventy-one and every tenth35
year thereafter.(A) The Ohio redistricting commission shall 36
consist of the following seven members and shall be responsible 37
for the redistricting of this state for congress and the general 38
assembly:39

        (1) The governor;40

        (2) The auditor of state;41

        (3) The secretary of state;42

        (4) The speaker of the house of representatives;43

        (5) The legislative leader of the largest political party in 44
the house of representatives of which the speaker of the house of 45
representatives is not a member;46

       (6) The president of the senate; and47

        (7) The legislative leader of the largest political party in 48
the senate of which the president of the senate is not a member.49

       (B) All meetings of the Ohio redistricting commission shall 50
be open to the public. The governor shall give such personsthe 51
commission members and the public at least two weeks advance52
notice of the date, time, and place of suchthe first meeting.53

       The governorof the commission, which shall be held after the 54
first day of March but before the sixteenth day of March of the 55
year ending in the numeral one. At that first meeting, the members 56
shall convene, select co-chairpersons, at least one of whom shall 57
be a member of a political party other than the largest one 58
represented on the commission, and adopt procedural rules for 59
the operation of the commission.60

       (C) Not later than the first day of May of a year ending in 61
the numeral one, the Ohio redistricting commission shall convene, 62
public notice being given, to establish a schedule that it 63
determines appropriate to carry out the duties set forth in this 64
article. Not later than the first day of October of a year ending 65
in the numeral one, the commission shall adopt, in the manner 66
prescribed in this article, the boundaries for each of the 67
ninety-nine house of representatives districts, thirty-three 68
senate districts, and the prescribed number of congressional 69
districts as apportioned to the state pursuant to Section 2 of 70
Article 1 of the Constitution of the United States. After the 71
commission adopts each plan, the commission shall file that plan 72
with the secretary of state. Upon filing with the secretary of 73
state, the plan shall become effective.74

       Immediately after the adoption of a plan under this division, 75
the commission shall prepare a report that explains the basis on 76
which the commission made its decisions to achieve the districting 77
criteria specified in this article.78

       (D) Unless otherwise specified in this article, a simple 79
majority of its members shall be required for any action by the 80
Ohio redistricting commission. The affirmative vote of five 81
members of the commission, including votes from at least two 82
members of the commission who are members of a political party 83
other than the largest one represented on the commission, shall 84
be required to adopt any plan.85

       (E) The Ohio redistricting commission shall make the 86
necessary provisions to allow for public comment at public 87
hearings and in writing and to allow for any resident of Ohio to 88
submit a congressional plan or a general assembly plan for 89
consideration. The commission shall develop and implement a plan 90
to make available to the public all relevant data and information 91
necessary for the submission of a potential congressional plan and 92
a potential general assembly plan by any resident of Ohio.93

       (F) The attorney general shall be responsible for defending a 94
plan adopted by the members of the Ohio redistricting commission 95
in any legal action arising from the process described in this 96
article.97

       (G) The general assembly shall be responsible for making the 98
appropriations it determines necessary in order for the Ohio 99
redistricting commission to perform its duties under this article 100
and to defend against any lawsuit arising from the performance of 101
the duties set forth in this article.102

       (H) After the adoption of a congressional plan and a general 103
assembly plan and the completion of any necessary administrative 104
functions, the co-chairpersons of the Ohio redistricting 105
commission shall jointly dissolve the commission. Upon the 106
dissolution of the commission, the co-chairs shall arrange for all 107
records of the commission to be delivered to the Ohio historical 108
society for preservation.109

       (I) The secretary of state shall cause the apportionment110
redistricting plans to be published no later than the fifth day of111
October 5 of the year in which it isthey are made, in such manner 112
as provided by law.113

       Section 2.   The apportionmentredistricting of this state for 114
members of congress and the general assembly shall be made in the 115
following manner: The116

       (A) The whole population of the state, as determined by the 117
federal decennial census, shall be divided by the number of 118
congressional districts apportioned to the state pursuant to 119
Section 2 of Article I of the Constitution of the United States, 120
and the quotient shall be the ratio of representation in the 121
congress for ten years next succeeding such apportionment.122

       (B) The whole population of the state, as determined by the 123
federal decennial census or, if such is unavailable, such other 124
basis as the general assembly may direct, shall be divided by the 125
number "ninety-nine" and the quotient shall be the ratio of126
representation in the house of representatives for ten years next 127
succeeding such apportionmentredistricting. The128

       (C) The whole population of the state as determined by the129
federal decennial census or, if such is unavailable, such other 130
basis as the general assembly may direct, shall be divided by the 131
number "thirty-three" and the quotient shall be the ratio of 132
representation in the senate for ten years next succeeding such 133
apportionmentredistricting.134

       Section 3.  (A) The population of each congressional district 135
shall be as equal to the ratio of representation in the congress 136
as practicable, as provided in Section 2 of this article.137

       (B) The population of each house of representatives district 138
shall be substantially equal to the ratio of representation in the 139
house of representatives, as provided in sectionSection 2 of this 140
Articlearticle, and in no event shall any house of 141
representatives district contain a population of less than142
ninety-five percentper cent nor more than one hundred five 143
percentper cent of the ratio of representation in the house of 144
representatives, except in those instances where reasonable effort 145
is made to avoid dividing a county in accordance with section 9as 146
otherwise provided in division (B) of Section 8 of this Article147
article.148

       (C) The population of each senate district shall be 149
substantially equal to the ratio of representation in the senate, 150
as provided in Section 2 of this article, and in no event shall 151
any senate district contain a population of less than ninety-five 152
per cent nor more than one hundred five per cent of the ratio of 153
representation in the senate as determined pursuant to this 154
article.155

       Section 5 4.  Each(A) Each congressional district shall be 156
entitled to a single representative in the United States house of 157
representatives in each congress.158

       (B) Each house of representatives district shall be entitled 159
to a single representative in each General Assemblygeneral 160
assembly. Every161

       (C) Each senate district shall be entitled to a single 162
senator in each General Assemblygeneral assembly.163

       Section 6 5.   District boundaries established pursuant to 164
this Articlearticle shall not be changed until the ensuing 165
federal decennial census and the ensuing apportionment166
redistricting or as provided in section 13this section and 167
Section 12 of this Articlearticle, notwithstanding the fact that 168
boundaries of political subdivisions or citymunicipal wards 169
within the district may be changed during that time. District 170
boundaries shall be created by using the boundaries of political 171
subdivisions and citymunicipal wards as they exist at the time of 172
the federal decennial census on which the apportionment173
redistricting is based, or, if unavailable, on such other basis as 174
the general assembly has directed.175

       If the currently applicable redistricting plan is determined 176
to be invalid by an unappealed final order of a court of competent 177
jurisdiction, the court shall convene the Ohio redistricting 178
commission to adopt a new plan that is in compliance with the law, 179
including the provisions of this article. In convening the 180
commission under this section, the court may adjust the timelines 181
established in this article as necessary for the timely adoption 182
of a new plan.183

       No court shall, in any circumstance, order the implementation 184
or enforcement of any plan that has not been approved by the Ohio 185
redistricting commission in the manner prescribed by this article.186

       Section 7 6.   (A) Any plan adopted by the Ohio redistricting 187
commission shall comply with all applicable Ohio and federal 188
constitutional provisions and all applicable federal statutory 189
provisions, including, but not limited to, those dealing 190
specifically with the protection of minority voting rights.191

        (B) Every house of representativescongressional and general 192
assembly district shall be compact and composed of contiguous 193
territory, and the boundary of each district shall be a single 194
nonintersecting continuous line. To the extent consistent with the195
requirements of section 3 of this Articlearticle, the boundary 196
lines of districts shall be so drawn as to delineate an area 197
containing one or more whole counties.198

       (B)(C) Where the requirements of section 3 of this Article199
article cannot feasibly be attained by forming a district from a 200
whole county or counties, such district shall be formed by 201
combining the whole areas of governmental units giving preference202
in the order named to counties, townships, municipalities, and 203
citymunicipal wards.204

       (C)(D) Where the requirements of section 3 of this Article205
article cannot feasibly be attained by combining the areas of 206
governmental units as prescribed in division (B)(C) of this 207
section, only onetwo such unitunits may be divided between two208
districts, giving preference inper house of representatives 209
district. In the case of congressional districts, the number of 210
units divided per district may be more than two, but not more than 211
necessary to achieve the ratio of representation in the congress 212
as required by this article. In the selection of a unit for 213
division under division (D) of this section, preference shall be 214
given to a contiguous township, a city ward, a citycontiguous 215
municipality, and a village in the order named.216

       (D) In making a new apportionment, district boundaries 217
established by the preceding apportionment shall be adopted to the 218
extent reasonably consistent with the requirements of section 3 of 219
this Article.220

        (E) When the formation of competitive districts does not 221
conflict with the other principles established by this article, 222
the Ohio redistricting commission shall make its best efforts to 223
maximize the number of competitive districts using the following 224
criteria:225

       (1) The commission shall determine the three most competitive 226
general elections by percentage for nonjudicial statewide state 227
or federal office, including the elections of a president and 228
vice president of the United States, in which the candidates 229
receiving the highest and second highest number of votes were 230
the nominees of political parties, held in the three previous 231
even-numbered years immediately preceding the year in which the 232
commission meets to adopt new plans, provided that the two 233
partisan candidates combined received at least ninety-five per 234
cent of the total votes cast.235

       (2) Using the three most competitive elections selected under 236
division (E)(1) of this section, the commission shall determine 237
the average partisan indexes for each proposed district by doing 238
the following:239

       (a) Taking the percentage of the vote received in the 240
district for each of the two partisan candidates who received the 241
highest vote totals counting only the votes cast for those two 242
partisan candidates, then243

       (b) Averaging together the three voting percentages for the 244
candidates with the same partisan affiliation by dividing the sum 245
of the percentages by the number three to yield the average 246
partisan indexes for that district.247

       (3) A "competitive district" is a district where the average 248
partisan indexes determined by this section are not more than 249
five per cent apart.250

       Section 8 7.   A county having at least one house of 251
representatives ratio of representation shall have as many house 252
of representatives districts wholly within the boundaries of the 253
county as it has whole ratios of representation. Any fraction of 254
the population in excess of a whole ratio shall be a part of only 255
one adjoining house of representatives district.256

       The number of whole ratios of representation for a county 257
shall be determined by dividing the population of the county by 258
the ratio of representation for the house of representatives 259
determined under sectionSection 2 of this Articlearticle.260

       Section 10 8.   The standards prescribed in sectionsthis 261
section and Sections 3, 6, and 7, 8, and 9 of this Articlearticle262
shall govern the establishment of house of representatives 263
districts, which shall be created and numbered in the following 264
order to the extent that such order is consistent with the 265
foregoing standards:266

       (A) Each county containing population substantially equal to 267
one ratio of representation in the house of representatives, as 268
provided in sectionSection 2 of this Articlearticle, but in no 269
event less than ninety-five percentper cent of the ratio nor more 270
than one hundred five percentper cent of the ratio shall be 271
designated a representative district.272

       (B) Each county containing population between ninety and 273
ninety-five percentper cent of the ratio or between one hundred 274
five and one hundred ten percentper cent of the ratio may be 275
designated a representative district.276

       (C) Proceeding in succession from the largest to the 277
smallest, each remaining county containing more than one whole 278
ratio of representation shall be divided into house of 279
representatives districts. Any remaining territory within such280
county containing a fraction of one whole ratio of representation 281
shall be included in one representative district by combining it 282
with adjoining territory outside the county.283

       (D) The remaining territory of the state shall be combined 284
into representative districts.285

       Section 11 9.   Senate districts shall be composed of three 286
contiguous house of representatives districts. A county having at 287
least one whole senate ratio of representation shall have as many 288
senate districts wholly within the boundaries of the county as it 289
has whole senate ratios of representation. Any fraction of the 290
population in excess of a whole ratio shall be a part of only one 291
adjoining senate district. Counties having less than one senate 292
ratio of representation, but at least one house of representatives 293
ratio of representation shall be part of only one senate district.294

       The number of whole ratios of representation for a county 295
shall be determined by dividing the population of the county by 296
the ratio of representation in the senate determined under section297
Section 2 of this Articlearticle.298

       Senate districts shall be numbered from one through 299
thirty-three and as provided in section 12Section 11 of this 300
Articlearticle.301

10.  The standards prescribed in this section and 302
Sections 3 and 6 of this article shall govern the establishment of 303
congressional districts, which shall be created in the following 304
order to the extent that such order is consistent with the 305
foregoing standards:306

       (A) The number of whole ratios of representation for a county 307
shall be determined by dividing the population of the county by 308
the ratio of representation in the congress determined under 309
Section 2 of this article.310

       (B) Proceeding in succession from the largest to the 311
smallest, each county containing more than one whole ratio of 312
representation shall be divided into the appropriate number of 313
congressional districts. Any fraction of the county population in 314
excess of a whole ratio of representation shall be included in one 315
congressional district by combining it with adjoining territory 316
outside the county.317

       (C) The remaining territory of the state shall be combined 318
into congressional districts.319

       Section 12 11.   At any time the boundaries of senate 320
districts are changed in any plan of apportionmentredistricting321
made pursuant to any provision of this Articlearticle, a senator 322
whose term will not expire within two years of the time the plan 323
of apportionmentredistricting is made shall represent, for the 324
remainder of the term for which hethe senator was elected, the 325
senate district which contains the largest portion of the326
population of the district from which hethe senator was elected, 327
and the district shall be given the number of the district from 328
which the senator was elected. If more than one senator whose term 329
will not so expire would represent the same district by following 330
the provisions of this section, the persons responsible for 331
apportionment, by a majority of their number,Ohio redistricting 332
commission shall designate which senator shall represent the 333
district and shall designate which district the other senator or 334
senators shall represent for the balance of their term or terms.335

       Section 13 12.   The supreme court of Ohio or an applicable 336
federal court shall have exclusive, original jurisdiction in all 337
cases arising under this Articlearticle. In the event that any338
section of this Constitution relating to apportionment339
redistricting or any plan of apportionmentredistricting made by 340
the persons responsible for apportionment, by a majority of their 341
number,Ohio redistricting commission is determined to be invalid 342
by either the supreme court of Ohio, or the supreme court of the 343
United Statesan unappealed final order of a court of competent 344
jurisdiction, then notwithstanding any other provisions of this 345
Constitution, the persons responsible for apportionment by a 346
majority of their numberOhio redistricting commission shall 347
ascertain and determine a plan of apportionmentredistricting in 348
conformity with such provisions of this Constitution as are then 349
valid, including establishing terms of office and election of350
members of the general assembly from districts designated in the 351
plan, to be used until the next regular apportionment352
redistricting in conformity with such provisions of this 353
Constitution as are then valid.354

       Notwithstanding any provision of this Constitution or any law 355
regarding the residence of senators and representatives, a plan of 356
apportionmentredistricting made pursuant to this section shall 357
allow thirty days for persons to change residence in order to be 358
eligible for election.359

       The governor shall give the persons responsible for 360
apportionment two weeks advance written notice of the date, time, 361
and place of any meeting held pursuant to this section.362

       Section 15 13.   The various provisions of this Article XI363
article are intended to be severable, and the invalidity of one or 364
more of such provisions shall not affect the validity of the 365
remaining provisions.366

EFFECTIVE DATE AND REPEAL
367

       If adopted by a majority of the electors voting on this 368
proposal, Sections 1, 2, 3, 5 (4), 6 (5), 7 (6), 8 (7), 10 (8), 11 369
(9), 12 (11), 13 (12), and 15 (13) of Article XI amended or 370
amended and renumbered by this proposal and new Section 10 of 371
Article XI enacted by this proposal shall take effect on January 372
1, 2011, and existing Sections 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 373
13, and 15 of Article XI and Sections 4, 9, 374
and 14 of Article XI of the Constitution of the State of 375
Ohio are repealed from that effective date.376

SCHEDULE
377

       The amendments to Section 12 (11) of Article XI of the Ohio 378
Constitution in part substitute gender neutral for gender specific 379
language. These gender neutralizing amendments are not intended to 380
make a substantive change in the Ohio Constitution. The gender 381
neutral language is to be construed as a restatement of, and 382
substituted in a continuing way for, the corresponding gender 383
specific language existing prior to adoption of the gender 384
neutralizing amendments.385