# Redistricting in Ohio

Redistricting in Ohio is the process by which boundaries are redrawn for federal congressional and state legislative districts. It has historically been highly controversial. Critics have accused legislators of attempting to protect themselves from competition by gerrymandering districts.

## History

Elections in Ohio :
Federal government
U.S. President
1804
1808
1812
1816
1820
1824
1828
1832
1836
1840
1844
1848
1852
1856
1860
1864
1868
1872
1876
1880
1884
1888
1892
1896
1900
1904
1908
1912
1916
1920
1924
1928
1932
1936
1940
1944
1948
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
Dem
2004
Dem
2008
Dem
Rep
2012
Rep
2016
Dem
Rep
2020
Dem
2024
Rep
U.S. Senate
1803
1807
1808
1808 (sp)
1809 (sp)
1810 (sp)
1812
1813
1814 (sp)
1815
1819
1821
1822 (sp)
1824
1827
1828 (sp)
1830
1833
1836
1837
1838
1842
1844
1849
1851
1854
1856
1860
1861 (sp)
1863
1866
1868
1872
1874
1877 (sp)
1880
1881
1884
1886
1890
1892
1896
1897 (sp)
1898
1902
1904
1904 (sp)
1909
1911
1914
1916
1920
1922
1926
1928
1928 (sp)
1930 (sp)
1932
1934
1938
1940
1944
1946
1946 (sp)
1950
1952
1954 (sp)
1956
1958
1962
1964
1968
1970
1974
1976
1980
1982
1986
1988
1992
1994
1998
2000
2004
2006
2010
2012
2016
2018
2022
2024
2026 (sp)
2028
U.S. House of Representatives
1803
1804
1806
1808
1810
1812
1813
sp: 3
sp: 6
1814
1816
sp: 1
1818
1820
1821
sp: 4
1822
1824
1826
sp: 10
1827
sp: 8
1828
sp: 6
1830
sp: 11
1832
1834
sp: 1
sp: 19
1836
1837
sp: 17
1838
sp: 16
sp: 19
1840
sp: 4
1842
sp: 16
1843
1844
sp: 10
sp: 21
1846
1847
sp: 7
1848
1849
sp: 6
1850
1851
sp: 6
1852
1854
1856
1858
1859
sp: 14
1860
1861
sp: 7
sp: 13
1862
1864
1866
1867
sp: 2
1868
sp: 8
1870
sp: 10
1872
sp: 1
1874
1876
1878
1880
sp: 19
1882
1883
sp: 16
sp: 17
1884
1886
1888
1890
1892
sp: 16
1894
sp: 2
sp: 3
1896
1898
sp: 19
1899
sp: 16
1900
1902
1903
sp: 16
1904
sp: 19
1906
1908
1910
1912
1914
1916
1918
sp: 14
1920
1922
1924
1926
1927
sp: 2
1928
1930
1931
sp: 1
sp: 20
1932
1934
1936
sp: 11
sp: AL
1938
1940
sp: 17
sp: 22
1942
1944
1946
1947
sp: 4
1948
1950
1951
sp: 3
1952
1954
1956
1958
1960
sp: 6
1962
1964
1965
sp: 7
1966
1968
1970
sp: 19
1972
1974
sp: 1
1976
1978
1980
1981
sp: 4
1982
sp: 17
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1993
sp: 2
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2005
sp: 2
2006
2
2007
sp: 5
2008
sp: 11
2010
2012
2014
2016
sp: 8
2018
sp: 12
2020
2021
sp: 11
sp: 15
2022
2024
sp: 6 :
State government
General elections
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
Gubernatorial elections
1803
1805
1807
1808
1810
1812
1814
1816
1818
1820
1822
1824
1826
1828
1830
1832
1834
1836
1838
1840
1842
1844
1846
1848
1850
1851
1853
1855
1857
1859
1861
1863
1865
1867
1869
1871
1873
1875
1877
1879
1881
1883
1885
1887
1889
1891
1893
1895
1897
1899
1901
1903
1905
1908
1910
1912
1914
1916
1918
1920
1922
1924
1926
1928
1930
1932
1934
1936
1938
1940
1942
1944
1946
1948
1950
1952
1954
1956
1958
1962
1966
1970
1974
1978
1982
1986
1990
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022
2026
Complete list
Lieutenant Governor elections
Complete list
Secretary of State elections
2022
Complete list
Attorney General elections
2008 sp
2010
2014
2018
2022
Complete list
State Auditor elections
Complete list
State Treasurer elections
Complete list
State Supreme Court elections
Complete list
State House elections
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
State Senate elections
2018
2020
2022
2024 :
Ballot measures
2004
Issue 1
2011
Issue 2
2018
Issue 1
2022
Issue 1
2023
August Issue 1
November Issue 1
Issue 2
2024
Issue 1 :
Akron
Mayoral elections
2023 :
Cincinnati
Mayoral elections
2001
2005
2009
2013
2017
2021
City Council elections
List of elections :
Cleveland
Mayoral elections
1901
1933
1935
1937
1939
1941
1943
1945
1947
1949
1951
1953
1955
1957
1959
1961
1962 (special)
1963
1965
1967
1969
1971
1973
1975
1977
1978 (recall)
1979
1981
1985
1989
1993
1997
2001
2005
2009
2013
2017
2021
City Council elections
2021 :
Columbus
Mayoral elections
1899
1901
1903
1905
1907
1909
1919
1911
1913
1915
1919
1923
1927
1931
1935
1939
1943
1947
1951
1955
1959
1963
1967
1971
1975
1979
1983
1987
1991
1995
1999
2003
2007
2011
2015
2019
2023
City Council elections
2023 :
Cuyahoga County
County executive elections
2010
2014
2018
2022
County Council elections
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018 :
Toledo
Mayoral elections
2013
2015 (special)
2017
2021 :
vte :

### 20th century

In 1967, the General Assembly sent an amendment to voters which expanded the three-member Ohio Apportionment Board to include members selected by the majority and minority parties in both houses of the legislature. Voters approved the amendment in the November election.
In 1981, Issue 2, a citizen-initiated amendment which would have created a state redistricting commission was defeated, with 58% voting against.

### 21st century

Similar citizen-initiated amendments to create citizen redistricting commissions were defeated in 2005 and 2012. The 2005 amendment was opposed by the Ohio Republican Party and was not endorsed by the Ohio Democratic Party, while the 2012 amendment received opposition from the Republicans and endorsement by the Democrats. The 2012 amendment was organized by a coalition including the League of Women Voters of Ohio and Common Cause Ohio, while it received opposition from the Ohio Farm Bureau Association and Ohio Chamber of Commerce. Newspapers including the Akron Beacon Journal and The Plain Dealer editorialized in opposition to the 2012 measure.
In 2015, Issue 1, which replaced the Ohio Apportionment Board with the Ohio Redistricting Commission for proposing legislative districts, was initiated by the legislature and passed with 71% voting in favor. The Redistricting Commission consists of the governor, lieutenant governor, auditor and two members each appointed by legislative leaders in both chambers. In 2018, another legislatively-initiated amendment, which extended the Redistricting Commission's powers to redraw congressional districts and mandated supermajority, bipartisan legislative support for redistricting plans, was passed with over 74% of the vote.

#### Since 2020

Ohio lost the 16th district following the 2020 United States census. After the 2020 United States redistricting cycle commenced, the Ohio Redistricting Commission passed maps for the 2022-2032 decade. However, Democrats objected to the maps, and took the maps to court. The Supreme Court of Ohio overturned the initially passed state legislative maps, arguing that they unfairly favored Republicans against the guidance of Ohio's 2015 redistricting amendment that seeks to limit partisan gerrymandering. The legislature responded by passing new plans which made few modifications to the initially-passed plan. The court eventually rejected the legislature's maps seven times, with Republican legislators threatening to impeach Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor, who was the deciding vote on the maps.
Following the age-limit retirement of O'Connor, a new Republican-majority Supreme Court ruled in favor of the legislature's maps. O'Connor joined the campaign of Citizens Not Politicians Ohio, which sought to place an amendment on the 2024 ballot to replace the Ohio Redistricting Commission with an independent citizens' redistricting commission. On July 23, the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office certified enough signatures for the Citizens Not Politicians ballot initiative to appear in the November election. The text of the initiative was sent to the Ohio Ballot Board, its language was disputed by state Attorney General and slightly revised, and it was slated to appear on ballots as Ohio Issue 1, which was eventually defeated.

## Current process

As of 2023, Ohio employs a hybrid commission as a back-up redistricting authority in the case of the state legislature failing to achieve a certain qualified majority for approval of a map. The commission is composed of elected political officials as well as appointments made by the leaders of the state legislative chambers (namely: the speaker of the house, the leader of the largest party in the house to which the speaker of the house does not belong, the president of the senate, and the leader of the largest party in the senate to which the speaker of the senate does not belong), although those appointments also were politicians in the 2020 cycle. If the redistricting commission fails to achieve a certain qualified majority for approval of a congressional redistricting plan when it has been charged to do so, the authority to pass such a plan transfers back to the state legislature, which may then pass a plan either for the full decade via a certain qualified majority, or for only four years via normal legislative procedure otherwise.