The County Council may at any time, by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the members of the County Council, make minor adjustments to the legislative districts to make the boundaries of the districts identical to precinct boundaries as established by the Board of Elections to facilitate the administration of elections within the County of Summit between each recurring decennial Federal census.
(A) Current Districts to be Maintained. The eight districts from which the members of the Council shall be elected at the November 8, 2016 general election shall be the legislative districts as apportioned by Council following the decennial Federal census of 2010. There shall be no changes made to Council legislative districts prior to the decennial Federal census of 2020 except that by the affirmative vote of at least two--thirds of the members, Council may make minor adjustments to the Council legislative districts to make the boundaries of the districts identical to precinct boundaries as established by the Board of Elections to facilitate the administration of elections within the County of Summit.
(B) Redistricting. Immediately following each decennial Federal census commencing with the census of 2020, the Council shall appoint five electors of the County, not more than three of whom shall be members of the same political party and none of whom shall hold public office or be an officer of a political party, who shall constitute a Nonpartisan Independent Council Fair Districting Commission. The Commission shall, not later than one hundred twenty days following its appointment, prepare and certify to the Board of Elections of the County of Summit a detailed apportionment of the Council districts in accordance with the principles provided for in this section. The County Executive shall provide for the Commission such facilities and assistance as shall be required for the Commission to carry out its duties as provided for herein. That apportionment shall be completed by the same date as the apportionment for the Ohio General Assembly and shall be effective for the first regular County election thereafter.
(C) Principles for Establishing District Boundaries. All districts shall be of substantially equal population. compact and composed of contiguous territory and formed by combining existing areas of governmental units, giving preference, in the order named, to townships, municipalities and city wards and precincts. All portions of a district must be contiguous. When a political subdivision has a noncontiguous portion, it shall be considered contiguous to the remainder of the political subdivision for the purposes of redistricting. Precincts shall not be divided for the purpose of creating Council districts; however, political subdivisions may be divided between more than one Council district with no limitation upon the division of a political subdivision among districts. To the degree allowable by federal and state law, consideration will be given to district boundaries that broaden the opportunities for historically under-represented and minority communities to elect representatives to the Council. The Council may establish additional criteria for the Independent Council Fair Districting Commission to use for the purpose of drawing district boundaries, in order to achieve a government that is effective, efficient. and at the same time, accountable, responsive. and fairly representative, as long as such criteria do not conflict with the Constitution of the United States of America, the Constitution of the State of Ohio and applicable federal or state law.
(Amended 11-8-88; 11-7-06; 11-3-15.)
(Amended 11-8-88; 11-7-06; 11-3-15.)