Yost urges the Ohio Supreme Court to uphold the removal of a Delaware County election board member

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost urged the Ohio Supreme Court to uphold a ruling that removed a Delaware County Board of Elections member from the voter rolls and the May primary election ballot because she failed to prove that she is still living not just in the county, but also in the state of Ohio.

Yost filed a brief on April 22 in the case involving Melanie Leneghan, a Delaware County Board of Elections member and a candidate for the women’s seat on the Republican State Central Committee for the 19th District, according to Yost’s press release.

Negelhan reportedly failed to prove to the board of elections that she met Ohio’s residency requirements, resulting in her being removed from the ballot. Leneghan filed a petition on April 14 for a writ of mandamus, asking the Ohio Supreme Court to overturn the recent decision, according to the press release.

“For purposes of elected office, residency is paramount,” Yost wrote in the brief. “Relator believes she has the right to shop for a constituency. She does not. Voters should choose their representatives. Relator would have it the other way around.”

READ THE BRIEF: Attorney General Dave Yost’s Amicus Brief

Yost wrote in the press release that Leneghan presented evidence to prove she has ties to the county, but the ties were allegedly “superficial at best.”

According to the press release, Leneghan testified that she and her husband sold their residence in the county in January 2025, adding that she owns a home in South Carolina where her husband currently lives. It was also revealed that Leneghan had not actually lived at the county addresses she used for her voter registration and candidacy declaration.

A residence is the place in which a person’s “habitation is fixed and to which, whenever the person is absent, the person has the intention of returning,” according to state law.

Leneghan defended the discovered facts by telling The Columbus Dispatch that she travels for work, spends time between South Carolina and Ohio, and spends the majority of her time in the Buckeye State.

According to Yost’s brief, the Ohio Supreme Court should uphold the recent ruling because the board allegedly acted “well within its discretion in weighing the conflicting evidence and determining that Leneghan’s residency claims were not credible.”

The brief also said that the board of elections ensured that political and judicial candidates should have “meaningful” connections to the communities they wish to serve.

“Elected officials should be held to a higher standard than their electorate,” the brief says. “A candidate’s connection to their constituency informs decision making based on the locality’s needs, increases the local electorate’s voter education, and preserves election integrity and public confidence in the electoral process.”

As of Thursday, the Ohio Supreme Court had not yet ruled on Leneghan’s appeal.