COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A state panel has cleared supporters of proposed ballot issues to continue their efforts to amend the Ohio Constitution.
One measure aims to take away elected officials' power to draw legislative and congressional districts. The proposal would put district mapmaking in the hands of a 12-person citizen commission intended to reflect Ohio's geographic, ethnic and political diversity.
A second proposed amendment would allow gay marriage in the state. It would repeal a 2004 state constitutional amendment that says Ohio recognizes only a marriage between a man and a woman.
The state Ballot Board ruled Thursday that each proposal consists of one constitutional amendment.
The groups are now cleared to circulate petitions and gather the roughly 385,000 valid signatures for their issues to appear on ballots.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
