COLUMBUS, Ohio (Legal Newsline) — Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced May 4 that he has rejected a petition for a proposed Ohio constitutional amendment that would change Ohio's congressional redistricting process.
DeWine’s office received a written petition April 24 that sought to amend the Ohio Constitution. The petition was brought by the attorney representing the petitioning commitmee. DeWine concluded that the petition, called the Bipartisan Congressional Redistricting Reform Amendment, has a summary that omits important items.
It fails to note that – as a result of the proposed amendment – the Ohio Supreme Court would have exclusive, original jurisdiction over court challenges to any congressional district plan, DeWine says. Additionally, DeWine ruled the summary omits references in the amendment to Article XI, Section 9(B), regarding invalidation by courts. For these reasons, among several others, DeWine rejected the petition.
“I am unable to certify the summary as a fair and truthful statement of the proposed amendment,” DeWine stated in his letter rejecting the petition. “However, I must caution that this letter is not intended to represent an exhaustive list of all defects in the submitted summary.”