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Governmental authority in the U.S. state of Ohio, like that at the federal level, is divided among three nominally co-equal branches--executive, legislative, and judicial. Unlike at the federal level, all three of these branches are elected in Ohio. Elections for state office are held in even-numbered years, with gubernatorial election years alternating with presidential election years.
The executive branch of Ohio government comprises six officers elected statewide for four-year terms:
The legislative branch, the Ohio General Assembly, comprises two houses--the senate and the house of representatives. The house of representatives is composed of 99 members elected from single-member districts of equal population. Each of the 33 senate districts is formed by combining three house districts. Senators serve four-year staggered terms and representatives serve two-year terms.
In order to be enacted into law, a bill must be adopted by both houses of the assembly and signed by the governor. If the governor vetos a bill, the assembly can override the veto with a three-fifths supermajority of both houses. A bill will also become a law if the governor fails to sign or veto it within 10 days of its being presented.
The Legislative Service Commission is one of several legislative agencies. It serves as a source for legal expertise and staffing. The commission drafts proposed legislation.
The judicial branch is headed by the supreme court, which has one chief justice and six associate justices, each elected to staggered six-year terms.
There are several other levels of elected judiciary in the Ohio court system:
The General Assembly, with the approval of the governor, draws the U.S. congressional district lines for Ohio's 18 seats in the United States House of Representatives. The Ohio Apportionment Board draws state legislative district lines in Ohio.
The Ohio Department of Education is run by an elected Ohio State Board of Education, which has 17 elected members and two ex officio members. The state is divided into 11 education districts, the residents of each which elect a member of the board. Each education district is formed by combining three contiguous Ohio Senate districts. A further six members are elected at-large. The final two members are the chairman of the Ohio House of Representatives Education Committee and his or her counterpart in the Ohio State Senate.
Although historically control of the state has occillated between the two major parties, Republicans currently dominate state government. The governor, Robert A. Taft II, is a Republican, as are all other non-judicial statewide elected officials: Lieutenant Governor of Ohio Jennette Bradley, Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro, Ohio State Auditor Betty Montgomery, Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, and Ohio State Treasurer Joseph T. Deters. Both houses of the Ohio General Assembly are also firmly in Republican control, 12 of 18 representatives in the US House are Republicans, and both U.S. senators, Michael DeWine and George V. Voinovich, are members of the GOP. However, all of the mayors of the six largest cities in the state (Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toledo, Akron, and Dayton) are Democrats.
Due to a more sluggish economy than the country as a whole, Ohio is considered a key battleground state in the 2004 U.S. Presidential election. The state is vital to President George W. Bush's election chances, as it is a state he won by nearly 4 points in 2000 and by the fact that no Republican has ever been elected President without winning Ohio.
However, Ohio's status as a bellwether state may soon end, as its electoral vote total has been declining for decades. For the 2004 election, it has 20 electoral votes, down from 21 in 2000 and down from a peak of 26 in 1968. It is the fewest electoral votes for Ohio since 1828, when it cast 16 electoral votes. Ohio will cast 3.71% of the total electoral votes in 2004, the smallest percentage since it cast 3.40% of the votes in 1820.
There are also several levels of local government in Ohio. Generally, elections for county officials are held in even-numbered years, while elections for officials in the municipalities, townships, and local Boards of Education are held in odd-numbered years.
Ohio is divided into 88 counties. Ohio law defines a structure for county government, although each county may choose to define its own. Summit County has chosen an alternate structure, while all of the other counties have a structure that includes the following elected officers:
In Ohio, there are two kinds of incorporated municipalities, cities and villages. If a municipality has five thousand or more residents as of the last federal census it is a city, otherwise it is a village. Each municipality chooses its own form of government, but most have elected mayors and city councils or city commissions. City governments provide much more extensive services than county governments, such as police forces and professional (as opposed to volunteer) fire departments.
Areas in a county that are not included within an incorporated municipality (a city or a village), are part of unincorporated townships. The residents of a township elect a three-member Board of Trustees and other officers.
There are more than 600 city and local school districts in Ohio. The borders of the school district do not strictly follow county, township, or municipal borders. Each school district is headed by an elected Board of Education which has direct authority over the local schools.
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