Just two hours after the Summit County Board of Elections punted a decision about whether U.S. Rep. Democrat Emilia Sykes is eligible to vote in Akron, the first-term congresswoman cast her ballot at the office’s Early Vote Center.
Sykes voted for herself right next door to the site of Thursday morning’s hearing, which she skipped.
At the voting center, Sykes said voting early was easy and convenient.
“I have the legal and constitutional right to vote, and it is a very important election, and I encourage all eligible voters to vote,” Sykes said after feeding her ballot into the voting machine. “And of course, I want to make sure I win my election, so I can vote for myself, make sure I at least have one vote.”
Thursday’s hearing was triggered by a complaint that Sykes did not reside in Akron, which cited an ethics form filled out by her husband, Kevin Boyce, an elected commissioner in Franklin County. Boyce, a Democrat, listed Sykes under a section labeled “spouse residing in household.”
Thomas Zawistowski, a local Republican activist, filed the complaint after seeing the ethics form. Zawistowski said the form led him to believe Sykes lives in Columbus, which is in Franklin County– not Summit County.
The hearing culminated in a tied vote across party lines.
Two Democratic BOE members voted to reject the complaint and uphold Sykes’ eligibility, while the two Republican members voted to make her ineligible. Now Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose will decide if Sykes should be removed from the voter rolls.
Summit BOE members frustrated Sykes chose not to participate in hearing
Outside the Early Vote Center, Sykes said voters do not deserve “sham hearings” like the one held earlier Thursday to determine her voting eligibility.
“I am a member of Congress, and I do have work on behalf of my people, and I find it to be a better use of my time to serve my constituents,” Sykes said. “And that’s what I chose to do, rather than participate in their circus.”
At the hearing, one of the repeated concerns of Republican members Bryan Williams and Ray Weber was why Sykes did not attend the meeting herself, opting to be represented only by elections lawyer Don McTigue. McTigue provided a list of documents, including Sykes’ drivers’ license, showing she lives in Akron.
After a vote was taken at the hearing, Chief Assistant Summit County Prosecutor John Galonski advised that Sykes should be allowed to vote if she showed up at the voting center with proper identification.
Weber expressed his frustration with Sykes’ refusal to participate in the proceedings in person.
“If she walks into the Board of Elections today, I’m gonna be even more bothered than I am now that she isn’t up here to help clear up this mess,” Weber said.
Sykes said if she needed to attend the hearing and had been subpoenaed, she would have been there.
