Opinion ID: 2515815
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Application of Article IV, Section 7, to a Reapportionment Plan

Text: Welsh Petitioners and others contend that the Secretary of State's plan violates Article IV, section 7, which provides, in part: A senatorial district, when more than one county shall constitute the same, shall be composed of contiguous counties, and no county shall be divided in creating such senatorial districts. [10] Welsh Petitioners concede that Article IV, section 7, cannot be given full effect because of the one person, one vote principle that the United States Supreme Court recognized as embedded in the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. See, e.g., Brown v. Thomson, 462 U.S. 835, 842, 103 S.Ct. 2690, 77 L.Ed.2d 214 (1983) (discussing requirements). Welsh Petitioners nevertheless contend that the Secretary of State must respect county boundaries to the extent that that duty may be reconciled with Article IV, section 6, and the United States Constitution. In Hovet v. Myers, 260 Or. 152, 158-59, 489 P.2d 684 (1971), this court discussed the relevant federal cases under the Fourteenth Amendment and concluded that the existing districts formed along county lines must be changed without regard to county lines in order to comply with the Federal Constitution. Id. at 163, 489 P.2d 684 (emphasis added). As a consequence, Article IV, section 7, today imposes no greater duty on the Secretary of State to follow county lines than the duty found in ORS 188.010(1)(c)((1) Each district, as nearly as practicable, shall:    (c) Utilize existing    political boundaries.). We therefore reject the various constitutional challenges under Article IV, section 7.