Petition for constitutional amendment on congressional redistricting certified

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A petition for a proposed amendment to the Ohio Constitution that would change the process for congressional redistricting in Ohio has been certified according to the office of Ohio Attornery General Mike DeWine.

On May 10, 2017, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office received a written petition to amend the Ohio Constitution, entitled the Bipartisan Congressional Redistricting Reform Amendment, from the attorney representing the petitioning committee, Fair Congressional Districts for Ohio. The petition was certified today as containing both the necessary 1,000 valid signatures from registered Ohio voters and a “fair and truthful” summary of the proposed amendment.

“Without passing upon the advisability of the approval or rejection of the measure to be referred, but pursuant to the duties imposed upon the Attorney General’s Office […] I hereby certify that the summary is a fair and truthful statement of the proposed law,” Attorney General DeWine stated in the certification letter.

Once the summary language and initial signatures are certified, the Ohio Ballot Board must determine if the amendment contains a single issue or multiple issues. The petitioners must then collect signatures for each issue from registered voters in each of 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties, equal to 5 percent of the total vote cast in the county for the office of governor at the last gubernatorial election. Total signatures collected statewide must also equal 10 percent of the total vote cast for the office of governor at the last gubernatorial election.

The full text of today’s letter and the amendment petition submitted can be found at http://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/Petitions.