As Introduced

129th General Assembly
Regular Session
2011-2012
S. J. R. No. 4


Senators Sawyer, LaRose 

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

       Be it resolved by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, 10
three-fifths of the members elected to each house concurring 11
herein, that there shall be submitted to the electors of the 12
state, in the manner prescribed by law at the general election to 13
be held on November 6, 2012, a proposal to amend Sections 1, 2, 3, 14
5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 15 of Article XI and to amend, for 15
the purpose of adopting new section numbers as indicated in 16
parentheses, Sections 5 (4), 6 (5), 7 (6), 10 (7), 11 (8), 12 (9), 17
13 (10), and 15 (11) of Article XI of the Constitution of the 18
State of Ohio to read as follows:19

1.  The governor, auditor of state, secretary of 20
state, one person chosen by the speaker of the house of 21
representatives and the leader in the senate of the political 22
party of which the speaker is a member, and one person chosen by 23
the legislative leaders in the two houses of the major political 24
party of which the speaker is not a member shall be the persons 25
responsible for the apportionment of this state for members of the 26
general assembly.27

       Such persons, or a majority of their number, shall meet and 28
establish in the manner prescribed in this Article the boundaries 29
for each of ninety-nine house of representatives districts and 30
thirty-three senate districts. Such meeting shall convene on a 31
date designated by the governor between August 1 and October 1 in 32
the year one thousand nine hundred seventy-one and every tenth 33
year thereafter.(A)(1) The Ohio redistricting commission shall 34
consist of the following seven members and shall be responsible 35
for the redistricting of this state for congress and the general 36
assembly:37

        (a) The governor;38

        (b) The auditor of state;39

        (c) The secretary of state;40

        (d) The speaker of the house of representatives;41

        (e) The legislative leader of the largest political party in 42
the house of representatives of which the speaker of the house of 43
representatives is not a member;44

       (f) The president of the senate; and45

        (g) The legislative leader of the largest political party in 46
the senate of which the president of the senate is not a member.47

       The members of the commission, or their designees, shall 48
conduct all business of the commission, as described in this 49
article. Only commission members shall participate in a vote to 50
adopt a redistricting plan. No designees shall participate in such 51
a vote.52

       (2) The redistricting information services office, which 53
shall be a nonpartisan office under the auspices of the general 54
assembly, shall do all of the following:55

       (a) Gather and make available to the commission and to the 56
public, in a form that facilitates data analysis and the drawing 57
of legislative and congressional districts, thorough and accurate 58
census data and information detailing the boundaries of political 59
subdivisions that are required to be considered in establishing a 60
redistricting plan; 61

       (b) Provide to the commission any additional data or election 62
information the commission requests in the form requested;63

       (c) Provide all map-production and data services the 64
commission requires in completing its duties under this article;65

       (d) Establish and maintain electronic resources that are 66
accessible to the public and that permit members of the public to 67
prepare legislative and congressional redistricting plans for 68
consideration by the commission.69

       (B) All meetings of the Ohio redistricting commission shall 70
be open to the public and shall be broadcast by electronic means 71
of transmission using a medium readily accessible by the general 72
public. The governor shall give such personsthe commission 73
members and the public at least two weeks advance notice of the 74
date, time, and place of suchthe first meeting.75

       The governorof the commission, which shall be held in a year 76
ending in the numeral one on the first business day occurring two 77
weeks after the day on which the decennial census data is released 78
regarding the state of Ohio. At that first meeting, the members 79
shall convene, select co-chairpersons, at least one of whom shall 80
be a member of a political party other than the largest one 81
represented on the commission, and adopt procedural rules for the 82
operation of the commission.83

       (C)(1) Not later than four weeks after the day on which the 84
decennial census data is released regarding the state of Ohio, the 85
Ohio redistricting commission shall convene, public notice being 86
given, to establish a schedule that it determines appropriate to 87
carry out the duties set forth in this article. Not later than 88
twenty weeks after the release of that data, the commission shall 89
adopt, in the manner prescribed in this article, the boundaries 90
for each of the ninety-nine house of representatives districts, 91
thirty-three senate districts, and the prescribed number of 92
congressional districts as apportioned to the state pursuant to 93
Section 2 of Article 1 of the Constitution of the United States. 94
After the commission adopts each plan, the commission shall file 95
that plan with the secretary of state. Upon filing with the 96
secretary of state, the plan shall become effective.97

       Immediately after the adoption of a plan under this division, 98
the commission shall prepare a report that explains the basis on 99
which the commission made its decisions to achieve the districting 100
criteria specified in this article.101

       (2) Unless otherwise specified in this article, a vote of at 102
least five of its members shall be required for any action by the 103
Ohio redistricting commission. The affirmative vote of five 104
members of the commission, including votes from at least two 105
members of the commission who are members of a political party 106
other than the largest one represented on the commission, shall be 107
required to adopt any plan.108

       (D) If the commission is unable to adopt a legislative plan, 109
congressional plan, or both, by the end of the twentieth week 110
after the day on which the decennial census data is released 111
regarding the state of Ohio pursuant to division (C) of this 112
article, all of the following shall apply:113

       (1) For each type of plan that has not been adopted, members 114
of the commission who are affiliated with the two largest 115
political parties in the state shall each have one week to develop 116
their last, best offer of a redistricting plan, which plans shall 117
be submitted to the secretary of state to be placed on the ballot 118
at the general election conducted in that year. 119

       During that same one week period, members of the commission 120
who are affiliated with the two largest political parties in the 121
state each shall select one of their members, and those two 122
selected members shall select a third person, who is not a member 123
of the commission. The two selected commission members, and the 124
third person they select, shall, by majority vote, choose from 125
among the publicly submitted plans the single plan that is the 126
most competitive, that splits the fewest number of political 127
subdivisions, and that, to the best of their belief, meets all the 128
other requirements of this article, including, but not limited to, 129
federal statutory provisions dealing specifically with the 130
protection of minority voting rights. That plan shall be submitted 131
to the secretary of state to be placed on the ballot at the 132
general election conducted in that year.133

       Of the three plans submitted to the secretary of state for 134
placement on that ballot at the general election under this 135
division, the plan receiving the highest number of favorable votes 136
at that election shall be adopted. 137

       (2) If a primary election was scheduled to occur prior to the 138
first Tuesday after the first Monday in May of the following 139
even-numbered year, that primary election, and any special 140
election scheduled to be held on the day of that primary election, 141
shall be conducted on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in 142
May, unless the general assembly specifies a later date by law.143

       (3) Every primary election conducted during the ten-year 144
period preceding the next redistricting to nominate candidates for 145
representatives for the applicable districts shall be conducted as 146
a nonpartisan primary. The name of each candidate shall be placed 147
on the ballot without reference to party affiliation. The two 148
candidates receiving the highest number of votes in each district 149
at that election shall be nominated, and the names of those 150
candidates shall appear on the ballot at the general election, 151
regardless of their political party affiliation.152

       (E) The Ohio redistricting commission shall make the 153
necessary provisions to allow for public comment at public 154
hearings and in writing and to allow for any Ohio elector to 155
submit a congressional plan or a general assembly plan for 156
consideration. The commission shall develop and implement a plan 157
to make available to the public through the redistricting 158
information services office all relevant data and information 159
necessary for the submission of a potential congressional plan and 160
a potential general assembly plan by any Ohio elector.161

       (F) The attorney general shall be responsible for defending a 162
plan adopted by the members of the Ohio redistricting commission 163
in any legal action arising from the process described in this 164
article.165

       (G) The general assembly shall be responsible for making the 166
appropriations necessary in order for the Ohio redistricting 167
commission and the redistricting information services office to 168
perform their duties under this article and to defend against any 169
lawsuit arising from the performance of the duties set forth in 170
this article.171

       (H) After the adoption of a congressional plan and a general 172
assembly plan and the completion of any necessary administrative 173
functions, the co-chairpersons of the Ohio redistricting 174
commission shall jointly dissolve the commission. Upon the 175
dissolution of the commission, the co-chairs shall arrange for all 176
records of the commission to be delivered to the Ohio historical 177
society, or to a functionally equivalent entity providing state 178
archival services, for preservation.179

       (I) Except as otherwise provided in this division, the 180
secretary of state shall cause the apportionmentredistricting 181
plans to be published no later than October 5 of the year in 182
which it is madetwenty-two weeks after the day on which the 183
decennial census data is released regarding the state of Ohio, in 184
such manner as provided by law. If the legislative plan, 185
congressional plan, or both are adopted by a vote of the people 186
under division (D) of this section, the secretary of state shall 187
cause the applicable plan or plans to be published not later than 188
five days after the certification of the vote establishing the 189
plan.190

       Section 2.   The apportionmentredistricting of this state for 191
members of congress and the general assembly shall be made in the 192
following manner: The193

       (A) The whole population of the state, as determined by the 194
federal decennial census, shall be divided by the number of 195
congressional districts apportioned to the state pursuant to 196
Section 2 of Article I of the Constitution of the United States, 197
and the quotient shall be the ratio of representation in the 198
congress for ten years next succeeding such apportionment.199

       (B) The whole population of the state, as determined by the 200
federal decennial census or, if such is unavailable, such other 201
basis as the general assembly may direct, shall be divided by the 202
number "ninety-nine" and the quotient shall be the ratio of 203
representation in the house of representatives for ten years next 204
succeeding such apportionmentredistricting. The205

       (C) The whole population of the state as determined by the 206
federal decennial census or, if such is unavailable, such other 207
basis as the general assembly may direct, shall be divided by the 208
number "thirty-three" and the quotient shall be the ratio of 209
representation in the senate for ten years next succeeding such 210
apportionmentredistricting.211

       Section 3.  (A) The population of each congressional district 212
shall be as equal to the ratio of representation in the congress 213
as practicable, as provided in Section 2 of this article.214

       (B) The population of each house of representatives district 215
shall be substantially equal to the ratio of representation in the 216
house of representatives, as provided in sectionSection 2 of this 217
Articlearticle, and in no event shall any house of 218
representatives district contain a population of less than 219
ninety-five percentper cent nor more than one hundred five 220
percentper cent of the ratio of representation in the house of 221
representatives, except in those instances where reasonable effort 222
is made to avoid dividing a county in accordance with section 9 of 223
this Article.224

       (C) The population of each senate district shall be 225
substantially equal to the ratio of representation in the senate, 226
as provided in Section 2 of this article, and in no event shall 227
any senate district contain a population of less than ninety-five 228
per cent nor more than one hundred five per cent of the ratio of 229
representation in the senate as determined pursuant to this 230
article.231

       Section 5 4.  (A) Each congressional district shall be 232
entitled to a single representative in the United States house of 233
representatives in each congress.234

       (B) Each house of representatives district shall be entitled 235
to a single representative in each General Assemblygeneral 236
assembly. Every237

       (C) Each senate district shall be entitled to a single 238
senator in each General Assemblygeneral assembly.239

       Section 6 5.   District boundaries established pursuant to 240
this Articlearticle shall not be changed until the ensuing 241
federal decennial census and the ensuing apportionment242
redistricting or as provided in section 13Section 10 of this 243
Articlearticle, notwithstanding the fact that boundaries of 244
political subdivisions or citymunicipal wards within the district 245
may be changed during that time. District boundaries shall be 246
created by using the boundaries of political subdivisions and city247
municipal wards as they exist at the time of the federal decennial 248
census on which the apportionmentredistricting is based, or, if 249
unavailable, on such other basis as the general assembly has 250
directed.251

       Section 7 6.   (A) Any plan adopted by the Ohio redistricting 252
commission shall comply with all applicable Ohio and federal 253
constitutional provisions and all applicable federal statutory 254
provisions, including, but not limited to, those dealing 255
specifically with the protection of minority voting rights.256

        (B) Every house of representativescongressional and general 257
assembly district shall be compact and composed of contiguous 258
territory, and the boundary of each district shall be a single 259
nonintersecting continuous line. To the extent consistent with the 260
requirements of section 3 of this Articlearticle, the boundary 261
lines of districts shall be so drawn as to delineate an area 262
containing one or more whole counties.263

       (B) Where the requirements of section 3 of this Article 264
cannot feasibly be attained by forming a district from a whole 265
county or counties, such district shall be formed by combining the266
whole areas of governmental units giving preference in the order 267
named to counties,the smallest governmental units, as determined 268
by population, of municipal wards, villages, townships, and269
municipalities, and city wards.270

       (C) Where the requirements of section 3 of this Article271
article cannot feasibly be attained by combining the areas of 272
whole governmental units as prescribed in division (B) of this 273
section, only one such unitthose units may be divided between two 274
districts, giving preference in the selection of a unit for 275
division tobut with a preference for retaining whole the smallest 276
governmental units, as determined by population, of a township, a 277
citymunicipal ward, a citymunicipality, and a village in the 278
order named.279

       (D) In making a new apportionment, district boundaries 280
established by the preceding apportionment shall be adopted to the 281
extent reasonably consistent with the requirements of section 3 of 282
this Article.When the formation of competitive districts does not 283
conflict with the other principles established by this article, 284
the Ohio redistricting commission shall maximize the number of 285
competitive districts using the following criteria:286

       (1) The commission shall determine the average partisan 287
indexes for each proposed district by averaging together the 288
percentage of the vote received by each nonjudicial statewide 289
candidate with the same political party affiliation who received 290
votes within the district during the prior ten years, taking into 291
account only the votes received by candidates affiliated with the 292
two political parties with the largest population in the state 293
over that ten-year period.294

       (2) A "competitive district" is a district where the average 295
partisan indexes determined by this section are not more than five 296
per cent apart.297

       (E) For the purpose of this section, any noncontiguous 298
portion of a political subdivision shall be considered to be a 299
separate governmental unit.300

       Section 10 7.   The standards prescribed in sectionsthis 301
section and Sections 3, 7, 8, and 96 of this Articlearticle302
shall govern the establishment of house of representatives 303
districts, which shall be created and numbered in the following 304
order to the extent that such order is consistent with the 305
foregoing standards:.306

       (A) EachIf a county containingcontains population 307
substantially equal to one ratio of representation in the house of 308
representatives, as provided in sectionSection 2 of this Article309
article, but in no event less than ninety-five percentper cent of 310
the ratio nor more than one hundred five percentper cent of the 311
ratio shall be designated, the Ohio redistricting commission shall 312
make its best efforts to designate that county a representative 313
district.314

       (B) Each county containing population between ninety and 315
ninety-five percent of the ratio or between one hundred five and 316
one hundred ten percent of the ratio may be designated a 317
representative district.318

       (C) Proceeding in succession from the largest to the 319
smallest, each remaining county containing more than one whole 320
ratio of representation shall be divided into house of 321
representatives districts. Any remaining territory within such 322
county containing a fraction of one whole ratio of representation 323
shall be included in one representative district by combining it 324
with adjoining territory outside the county.325

       (D) The remaining territory of the state shall be combined 326
into representative districts.327

       Section 11 8.   Senate districts shall be composed of three 328
contiguous house of representatives districts. A county having at 329
least one whole senate ratio of representation shall have as many 330
senate districts wholly within the boundaries of the county as it 331
has whole senate ratios of representation. Any fraction of the 332
population in excess of a whole ratio shall be a part of only one 333
adjoining senate district. Counties having less than one senate 334
ratio of representation, but at least one house of representatives 335
ratio of representation shall be part of only one senate district.336

       The number of whole ratios of representation for a county 337
shall be determined by dividing the population of the county by 338
the ratio of representation in the senate determined under section 339
2 of this Article.340

       Senate districts shall be numbered from one through 341
thirty-three and as provided in section 12Section 9 of this 342
Articlearticle.343

       Section 12 9.   At any time the boundaries of senate districts 344
are changed in any plan of apportionmentredistricting made 345
pursuant to any provision of this Articlearticle, a senator whose 346
term will not expire within two years of the time the plan of347
apportionmentredistricting is made shall represent, for the 348
remainder of the term for which hethe senator was elected, the 349
senate district which contains the largest portion of the 350
population of the district from which hethe senator was elected, 351
and the district shall be given the number of the district from 352
which the senator was elected. If more than one senator whose term 353
will not so expire would represent the same district by following 354
the provisions of this section, the persons responsible for 355
apportionment, by a majority of their number,Ohio redistricting 356
commission shall designate which senator shall represent the 357
district and shall designate which district the other senator or 358
senators shall represent for the balance of their term or terms.359

       Section 13 10.  (A) The supreme court of Ohio or an 360
applicable federal court shall have exclusive, original 361
jurisdiction in all cases arising under this Articlearticle. In 362
the event that any section of this Constitution relating to 363
apportionmentredistricting or any plan of apportionment364
redistricting made by the persons responsible for apportionment, 365
by a majority of their number,Ohio redistricting commission is 366
determined to be invalid by either the supreme court of Ohio, or 367
the supreme court of the United Statesan unappealed final order 368
of a court of competent jurisdiction, then notwithstanding any 369
other provisions of this Constitution, the persons responsible for 370
apportionment by a majority of their numbercourt shall convene 371
the Ohio redistricting commission, which shall ascertain and 372
determine a plan of apportionmentredistricting in conformity with 373
such provisions of this Constitution as are then valid, including 374
establishing terms of office and election of members of the 375
general assembly from districts designated in the plan, to be used 376
until the next regular apportionmentredistricting in conformity 377
with such provisions of this Constitution as are then valid. In 378
convening the commission under this section, the court may adjust 379
the timelines established in this article as necessary for the 380
timely adoption of a new plan.381

       Notwithstanding any provision of this Constitution or any law 382
regarding the residence of senators and representatives, a plan of 383
apportionmentredistricting made pursuant to this section shall 384
allow thirty days for persons to change residence in order to be 385
eligible for election.386

       The governor shall give the persons responsible for 387
apportionment two weeks advance written notice of the date, time, 388
and place of any meeting held pursuant to this section.389

       (B) No court shall order, in any circumstance, the 390
implementation or enforcement of any redistricting plan that has 391
not been approved by the Ohio redistricting commission in the 392
manner prescribed by this article.393

       Section 15 11.   The various provisions of this Article XI394
article are intended to be severable, and the invalidity of one or 395
more of such provisions shall not affect the validity of the 396
remaining provisions.397

EFFECTIVE DATE AND REPEAL
398

       If adopted by a majority of the electors voting on this 399
proposal, Sections 1, 2, 3, 5 (4), 6 (5), 7 (6), 10 (7), 11 (8), 400
12 (9), 13 (10), and 15 (11) of Article XI amended or amended and 401
renumbered by this proposal shall take effect on January 1, 2019, 402
and existing Sections 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 15 of 403
Article XI and Sections 4, 8, 9, and 14 of Article XI of the 404
Constitution of the State of Ohio are repealed from that effective 405
date.406

SCHEDULE 1
407

       This amendment takes effect January 1, 2019, for the purpose 408
of allowing time to establish and staff the Redistricting 409
Information Services Office and for the purpose of allowing the 410
newly established Redistricting Information Services Office time 411
to complete its required preparatory tasks for the 2021 412
redistricting. 413

       During the period from January 1, 2019, through March 15, 414
2021, if the legislative redistricting plan then in effect is 415
determined to be invalid by an unappealed final order of a court 416
of competent jurisdiction, the persons responsible for 417
apportionment, as specified in the version of Section 1 of Article 418
XI, Ohio Constitution, that was in effect prior to the effective 419
date of this amendment, shall convene and ascertain a legislative 420
redistricting plan that shall continue in effect until a 421
legislative redistricting plan is adopted in accordance with the 422
requirements of this amendment, in 2021.423

       During the period from January 1, 2019, through March 15, 424
2021, if the congressional redistricting plan then in effect is 425
determined to be invalid by an unappealed final order of a court 426
of competent jurisdiction, the Ohio General Assembly shall convene 427
and ascertain a congressional redistricting plan that shall 428
continue in effect until a congressional redistricting plan is 429
adopted in accordance with the requirements of this amendment, in 430
2021.431

       Beginning March 15, 2021, if any legislative or congressional 432
redistricting plan then in effect is determined to be invalid by 433
an unappealed final order of a court of competent jurisdiction, 434
the Ohio Redistricting Commission shall convene and ascertain a 435
redistricting plan in accordance with the requirements of this 436
amendment.437

SCHEDULE 2
438

       The amendments to Section 12 (9) of Article XI of the Ohio 439
Constitution in part substitute gender neutral for gender specific 440
language. These gender neutralizing amendments are not intended to 441
make a substantive change in the Ohio Constitution. The gender 442
neutral language is to be construed as a restatement of, and 443
substituted in a continuing way for, the corresponding gender 444
specific language existing prior to adoption of the gender 445
neutralizing amendments.446