Every 10 years, with recently-completed census data in hand, Ohio’s General Assembly and U.S. Congressional legislative districts are redrawn to reflect changes in population throughout the past decade.  As a member of the Apportionment Board, Auditor Yost would like to give Ohioans a look at the process for how district lines are determined for your Statehouse and U.S. Capital elected representatives.

Apportionment vs. Redistricting – What is the difference?

While all legislative districts are being redrawn, the process for determining your Ohio General Assembly and U.S. Congressional districts is different.

Apportionment

Ohio’s General Assembly districts are drawn by the Ohio Apportionment Board.  The Board's members are designated in the Ohio Constitution and include the Governor, the Auditor of State, the Secretary of State and two members of the Ohio General Assembly, one from each major political party.  The Apportionment Board must have the new districts in place by October 5th.

In Ohio, there are 99 House districts and 33 Senate districts, with each Senate district comprised of 3 House districts.  The Apportionment Board must draw the General Assembly districts to meet constitutional and other legal requirements, with relatively equal populations as to give Ohioans equal representation.

Redistricting

The number of Congressional districts in Ohio is determined by population.  Over the past 10 years, Ohio’s population has grown at a slower rate than other states, and thus the number of federal Congressional seats in Ohio will decrease from 18 to 16.  Each state has their own process for drawing districts, and Ohio’s process is laid out in the Ohio Revised Code, Section 3521.01. 

In Ohio, Congressional districts are determined by legislation enacted by a majority of statehouse senators and representatives.   To prepare, leadership in both the Ohio House of Representatives and the Ohio Senate established committees tasked with holding hearings to get input on how to draw Ohio’s Congressional districts.  After hearing testimony from constituents from all around Ohio, a bill was introduced.  It is currently being considered by members of the Ohio General Assembly.

The Auditor of State does not play a role in this process.  Citizens with comments or concerns about Congressional redistricting should contact their statehouse representatives.  To determine who represents the area where you live, go to the Ohio General Assembly’s web site at http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/index.cfm.

 
Apportionment Update

Members of the Apportionment Board held their first meeting in August to begin the process of drawing state legislative districts.   Following this meeting, Auditor Yost and other members of the Apportionment Board (or their designee) took a tour through Ohio to gather input from Ohioans on how their legislative districts should be drawn.   Local communities are affected by these decisions so Auditor Yost personally attended these hearings to hear directly from each region’s citizens.  Thank you to everyone that attended these hearings and to those that provided input.

Apportionment plans are due to the Secretaries of the Apportionment Board by Friday, September 23 at 12:00 p.m.  Members of the Board will meet in the days following to consider plans.

For more information on the redistricting and apportionment processes, please visit Reshape Ohio.