Constitution of 1851

The General Assembly recommended that Ohio convene a convention in 1818 to address the weaknesses of the state's original constitution, but voters rejected their proposal. In 1849, the legislature again asked voters to consider a convention. This time, voters responded positively. Ohio's second constitutional convention met in Columbus and Cincinnati between May 1850 and March 1851. The document drafted by the convention and approved by voters in June 1851 is still in force, although it has been amended since.

Under the new constitution, all executive and county offices and state and local judgeships became elected positions. Appellate courts were created and one judge added to the Supreme Court. The document created the offices of attorney general and lieutenant governor. It also provided for establishment of the public school system. Two changes were made respective to procedures for future revision of the constitution. First, the General Assembly was authorized to propose amendments to voters for their approval if two-thirds of the legislators were in favor. Second, the General Assembly was required to ask voters every twenty years whether a constitutional convention was needed. One aspect of the original constitution that was not changed was the governor's lack of veto power.

Constitutional Amendments

After the 1851 constitution went into effect, the General Assembly proposed numerous amendments, but none were adopted because a majority of those casting ballots did not vote for them. In 1871, voters approved the call for a constitutional convention, Ohio's third. It ran from May 1873 until May 1874 in Columbus and Cincinnati. The document drafted by the convention, plus three ballot issues, were defeated by voters, although several provisions were later adopted as separate amendments. Voters chose not to call a constitutional convention in 1891.

In 1903, two significant amendments were passed. One, known as the Hanna Amendment, guaranteed that every county would have a member in the Ohio House of Representatives. The second change gave the governor power to veto legislation approved by the General Assembly.

In 1911, Ohio voters approved the election of delegates to a constitutional convention. On January 12, 1912, the 120 men met for the first time to begin revising the existing constitution. Among the delegates were 65 Democrats, 48 Republicans, 3 Independents, and 3 Socialists. Because the 1874 convention failed to convince a majority of voters to support its revised constitution, the 1912 convention offered voters the opportunity to approve or reject amendments individually. Of the 41 amendments proposed, voters approved 33. Changes that were approved include:

• granting voters powers of initiative and referendum, which allowed voters to propose, approve, or change laws and amendments
• imposing limits on governor's veto power by reducing the percentage of legislators required to override the veto from 2/3 to 3/5
• mandating an 8-hour day for state-funded workers
• establishing compulsory workers' compensation
• allowing cities with more than 5,000 residents to establish charters and govern themselves (called home rule)
• revising the judicial system

• allowed women to vote or hold offices related to care of women and children
• removed the qualifications that voters must be white, despite the fact that African American men had been voting since 1870; the language was not changed until 1923

Since 1912, Ohio has not had a constitutional convention. More than 160 amendments have been proposed, however, voters passed almost 100 of them. One of the most significant recent changes is the imposition of term limits in the General Assembly.