DELAWARE — The Delaware County Board of Elections voted 2-1 Friday, following an eight-hour hearing, to cancel the voter registration of board member Melanie Leneghan and remove her from the May 5 primary ballot.
The hearing was required after a 7-0 ruling from the Ohio Supreme Court, which granted a writ of mandamus ordering the board to consider the challenge to Leneghan’s voter registration and residency.
Earlier recusals by board members Ed Helvey and Peg Watkins had left the board without a quorum to rule on the challenge, which was filed by Powell resident and Delaware County Republican Central Committee member Velva Dunn.
The court ordered board members to “proceed forthwith” with the hearing, citing their legal duty to act despite concerns about perceived bias under the “rule of necessity.”
The three presiding board members — Democrats Helvey and Watkins and Republican Steve Cuckler — voted to uphold Dunn’s protest against Leneghan’s voter registration.
The board decided this by a 2-1 vote, with Cuckler the lone dissenting vote and Leneghan, also a Republican, recusing herself from all votes.
Helvey and Watkins concluded that Leneghan’s address on her voter registration was invalid because she did not reside there permanently or intend to return there.
Leneghan testified that she owns a share of a home in Galena with her friend Catherine Nelson, which she listed as her voting address.
Watkins said Leneghan’s testimony indicated she had moved some belongings into the Galena home and estimated she spends about half her time in the area, but the board had no additional evidence to support that claim.
“It didn’t seem convincing enough, to me, that the majority of her time is spent in Delaware County, making it a valid use of this [property] as her voter residence,” Watkins said.
Because the board canceled Leneghan’s voter registration, it also ruled 2-1 along party lines that she is not eligible to appear on the May 5 ballot for the Ohio Republican Party State Central Committee, which requires candidates to have a valid voter residence to seek office.
Cuckler disagreed with both votes, saying Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office approved Leneghan’s eligibility a year ago when appointing her to the board of elections after conducting a background review.
“I will reiterate that your intention to do something does not tell us where you lay your head at night,” Watkins said. “I think that we need to go with the behavior, rather than what someone intends to do in the future.”
Leneghan’s reaction and next move
After the decision, Leneghan criticized the board’s partisan split and said she plans to appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court.
“Whenever you have one Republican and two Democrats voting on an issue like this, it’s going to be unfair,” she said.
Leneghan also pointed out the previous recusals of both Watkins and Helvey at last month’s hearing. Both members had cited concerns about perceived bias before the Ohio Supreme Court ordered the hearing to proceed.
“So, [Helvey and Watkins] didn’t [recuse] today, and it’s a violation of election integrity for the Republican Party to be robbed of a vote,” Leneghan said
“The law is not where you lay your head, the law is your intent.”
Leneghan went on to say “the obviousness of this is ridiculous.”
“This was a witch hunt, and I was no different than a Black man in the South going up against the KKK,” she said.
The board did not discuss Leneghan’s status as a member of the Delaware County Board of Elections during Friday’s hearing.
Other actions from Friday’s hearing
In a separate action, the board voted 2-1 to find that Leneghan’s previous voting history tied to another address was invalid, concluding she did not reside at that location nor did she intend to reside there.
Leneghan sold her home in Powell in January 2025 and testified that she intended to reside at the Rambling Brook Way property, which belongs to another friend, Julie Keevins. The two times she voted under Keevins’ address were deemed invalid.
The matter was referred to the Delaware County Prosecutor’s Office and the Secretary of State’s Office for further review.
The board also canceled the voter registrations of Leneghan’s two daughters, who had been registered at the same Galena address belonging to Nelson. Both submitted written statements indicating they no longer lived at that residence. The decision was approved by a 3-0 vote.
The board also voted 2-1 to cancel the voter registration of Leneghan’s husband, Patrick Leneghan. Cuckler voted against the motion, saying he believed Patrick Leneghan intended to reside at the property in the future.
Several individuals, including Leneghan’s husband and daughters, were subpoenaed to testify at the hearing but did not appear.