Columbus voters to decide competing City Council reforms, including four additional seats

Columbus voters will decide between two competing proposals to overhaul City Council elections, including a council-backed measure that would add four members and increase taxpayer-funded salaries and staffing costs.

Issues 8 and 9 would both change how Columbus elects its City Council members by allowing residents to vote for representatives from their respective districts rather than all nine council seats.

Issue 8 would retain the city’s nine-member council, while Issue 9 would expand it to 13 members, including four seats elected citywide.

Under the city’s current system, approved by voters in 2018 and implemented in 2023, council members must live in the districts they represent, but voters throughout Columbus can cast ballots in all nine council races.

Issue 8, proposed by the grassroots coalition Our City Our Say, would eliminate citywide voting for council members and allow residents of each district to elect their own representative.

The proposal would retain the existing nine-member council without adding seats or changing the current district boundaries.

Supporters argue that district-only elections would give neighborhoods greater influence over their representation and make it easier for candidates without established political connections to compete for office.

Issue 9, placed on the Nov. 3 ballot by Columbus City Council, would also establish district-only elections for nine members but add four at-large seats elected by voters throughout the city.

The additional seats would be phased in over two election cycles, with two members taking office in 2028 and another two in 2030. The expansion would bring the council to 13 members in 2030.

The proposal would also increase city spending on elected officials. Council members earn nearly $100,000 annually in 2026, and each member receives two full-time staff positions with salaries and benefits, according to reporting by The Columbus Dispatch.

Adding four council members would create nearly $400,000 in additional annual council salaries at current pay levels, excluding staff compensation, benefits and office expenses.

Columbus City Council President Pro Tempore Rob Dorans, who introduced Issue 9, has argued that retaining at-large representation would help the city address issues extending beyond individual districts, including housing development.

Dorans also said phasing in the additional members would help the city absorb the increased costs.

Issue 9 would establish a citizen commission to redraw council district boundaries in 2028, ahead of the 2029 elections. The current districts would remain in place for the 2027 election.

The amendment would also increase the permitted population difference between districts from 1% to 7.5% and reduce the number of signatures district council candidates need to qualify for the ballot from 250 to 150.

Candidates seeking one of the four at-large seats would still need 250 signatures.

Issue 8 would leave those requirements unchanged and retain the existing district boundaries until redistricting following the 2030 U.S. Census.

Some Black community activists have criticized the existing district map because it was not originally designed for district-only elections and does not contain a majority-Black district, according to The Columbus Dispatch.

Four of the city’s nine current council members are Black.

The two proposals could also produce different outcomes depending on which measures voters approve.

According to WOSU’s breakdown of the ballot measures, approving both amendments would effectively produce the same system proposed under Issue 9, with nine district representatives and four at-large members.

The Columbus Dispatch reported that City Council would resolve any conflicts between the amendments, allowing Issue 9 to take precedence even if Issue 8 receives more votes.

Dorans has maintained that the two measures do not conflict, while critics of Issue 9 argue that adding at-large seats undermines the effort to establish district-only representation.

If Issue 8 passes and Issue 9 fails, Columbus would retain nine council members, each elected exclusively by voters within their district.

If Issue 9 passes, the council would expand to 13 members, with nine district representatives and four citywide members, regardless of whether Issue 8 also passes.

If both measures fail, Columbus would retain its current system, requiring council members to live in their respective districts while allowing all city voters to participate in each council election.

The Franklin County Democratic Party has endorsed both proposals. Early voting began Oct. 6.