The Summit County Board of Elections is preparing to hold a politically charged hearing questioning Akron U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes’ eligibility to vote in the waning days before the Nov. 5 election – thanks to a tie-breaking vote from Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose.

LaRose was consulted after the Summit County elections board’s two Republicans and two Democrats deadlocked on a complaint from a local GOP activist seeking to nullify Sykes’ voting eligibility.

LaRose notified the elections board on Wednesday that he’d sided with Republican board members, who conceded the challenge was unlikely to succeed. But the board members argued that there should be a public hearing to fully determine the matter.

“Reaching this conclusion prior to a hearing negates the very purpose of the
hearing itself, before which the challenged voter is notified of the meeting and afforded a ‘right to appear and testify, call witnesses, and be represented by counsel,'” LaRose said.

The Summit County Board of Elections is working on scheduling the hearing, which could come as soon as Tuesday, according to Bryan Williams, a Republican board member who also leads the local Republican Party. Sykes can attend, but isn’t legally required to do so, and could send a representative such as a lawyer in her place.

Republicans face a high bar disproving Sykes’ residency

Williams acknowledged Ohio has a legal high bar for disproving someone’s eligibility to vote where they’re registered. Democrats have accused Republicans of playing up the issue to try to embarrass Sykes in her reelection bid. She faces Republican former state lawmaker and Stow municipal clerk of courts Kevin Coughlin.

The race is viewed as competitive, which is true of only a few dozen nationally as Democrats fight to retake control of the House from Republicans.

“It’s very hard to prove a person is not eligible to vote from the address from which they’ve registered,” Williams said in an interview. “It does happen. I can’t remember it happening in Summit County any time recently. It’s very hard to prove.”

Regardless of what the board finds, it wouldn’t affect Sykes’ ability to run for or hold office. Members of Congress do not need to live in the district they represent. The complaint challenges whether Sykes might actually live elsewhere.

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Who is behind the challenge?

The issue traces back to a Sept. 27 complaint filed by Tom Zawistowski, who became well known locally as part of the Tea Party movement a decade ago, and who since has remained active on the edges of state Republican politics.

Zawistowski attached two documents with his complaint. The one board members keyed in on is a mandatory state financial disclosure filed in February by Sykes’ husband, Kevin Boyce, a former Democratic state treasurer who now is a Franklin County commissioner.

On a section of the financial form where officials can disclose the names of their “spouse residing in household,” Boyce listed Sykes’ name.

Sykes and Boyce got married in September 2022, a couple months before Sykes was elected to Congress. Sykes’ Republican opponent at the time, Madison Gesiotto Gilbert, used the relationship to question whether Sykes actually lives in the 13th Congressional District, which is anchored in Akron.

Similarly, Coughlin has raised the issue to question Sykes’ presence in the 13th District. Sykes is a member of a well-known political family who long has represented Akron in the state legislature.

Where does Sykes says she resides?

During an Oct. 1 public meeting, Don McTigue, a longtime Democratic elections lawyer based in Columbus, presented Summit County Board of Elections members with a sworn statement from Boyce. In it, Boyce said he listed Sykes on the financial form “out of an abundance of caution” because of his “uncertainty” about what the form required. He said in the sworn statement that Sykes does not “reside” with him though, using the legal term to determine where someone is registered to vote if they spend time in different houses.

What do Sykes’ documents show

McTigue also provided elections board members with a copy of Boyce’s home lease, which he said only listed Boyce’s name. McTigue also offered correspondence mailed to Sykes at her Akron address, including as a congressional pay stub, an insurance statement and a student loan bill.

Signal reviewed some of the same documents, which the Sykes campaign provided as proof that she lives in Akron. Sykes also holds a driver’s license issued to the Akron address where she’s registered to vote.

Williams said during the hearing that Zawistowski should be able to speak and produce additional evidence if he has it, which he said is something that could be done in a follow-up hearing.

“People who are married have the ability to maintain separate residences, and people do that,” said Democratic board member William Rich.

After discussing the complaint for 90 minutes, the Republican board members said they wanted to hear from Sykes over where she lived.

“You want to make a show,” Rich responded.

What does state law say about multiple residences?

State law gives broad leeway to a voter over where they’re registered to vote if they have multiple residences. The legal standard can be as simple as that person stating they “intend” to return to the place where they’re registered to vote. This was the standard a under a widely cited Ohio Supreme Court ruling involving Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, who as a state senator faced a challenge to his voting eligibility in Montgomery County after he married someone in Franklin County.

In that case, Husted argued he thought of the Montgomery County address as his home, and the court sided with him, overruling a tie-breaking vote from Jennifer Bruner, who at the time was the Democratic Secretary of State.

Democratic members described the complaint as frivolous

Democratic board members argued that Zawistowski failed to clear the bar to merit a hearing on whether Sykes was eligible to vote. They said he didn’t provide any documents or personal knowledge showing Sykes didn’t live at her Akron address.

In an interview, Rich said he hasn’t yet formed a conclusion about the complaint’s merit. But he said Zawostowski failed to make a claim to even merit an investigation.

“When someone has more than residence, it’s essentially their choice about which one to use as their voting residence,” Rich said. “And there was no allegation that she either didn’t have a residence in summit county or had chosen to make a residence in Franklin county her residence for voting purposes.”

The Sykes campaign also has raised legal issues over its technical propriety, including saying the complaint wasn’t filled out property and that LaRose failed to act on it before a state deadline.

In a statement, Sykes campaign spokesperson Maddie Summers said: “Emilia Sykes lives in Akron and this desperate lie is an example of how Kevin Coughlin represents everything the voters of Ohio’s 13th Congressional district hate about politics.”

“Northeast Ohioans will reject Coughlin’s pathetic attempt to rob them of their voice.”

In a statement, Coughlin said: “Career politicians like Emilia Sykes think the rules don’t apply to them. She may not even be able to legally vote for herself. Why should we trust her to vote on our behalf in Congress?”