UPDATED: Lorain County Democrats petition LaRose to appoint Sweda to elections board

This story has been updated. The Lorain County Democratic Party has posted on its Facebook page a Change.org petition titled "Request to Confirm Lorain County Board of Elections Appointment of Sharon Sweda." The former Democratic county commissioner's appointment to the Board of Elections was supposed to take effect March 1, but Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose denied her appointment over allegations she used her county email for campaign purposes last year and what he said were allegations she used county workers on her campaign. Democrats said in both the petition and in a phone interview Monday that Sweda did not use county employees to campaign for her in 2020 and that only furloughed employees such as former Lorain County Port Authority project manager Cory Shawver did work for her campaign on their own personal time. "We request that Ohio Secretary of State, Honorable Frank LaRose, reconsider and affirm the appointment of Sharon Sweda for the Lorain County Board of Elections," the petition reads. "We are hopeful that the Secretary of State will revisit his decision. Regardless, our intent is to send a strong message. Let Columbus know that we won't give them a free pass to come after Lorain County Dems in the future." The petitioners then asked the public to call or write LaRose's office. It had 93 signatures as of 8 p.m. Monday. Lorain County Democrats have until Friday to send LaRose's office a new name for confirmation or he will choose the next Democrat to be named to the county Board of Elections, the Republican official told Lorain County Democratic Party Chairman Anthony Giardini in a letter dated March 3. Giardini on Monday said there is not an official appeals process that Democrats can undertake to get Sweda appointed. "They can sign a petition if they feel strongly about it," he said. The petition would have no legal standing, Giardini said, but "it's something that I guess LaRose can consider, if he's so inclined." He said LaRose is required by law to accept the recommendation of the local party Executive Committee when appointing either Democrats or Republicans to the four-member elections board, "unless the secretary of state determines the person is otherwise disqualified," Giardini said. State law doesn't say what "disqualified" means, he added. It's up to the secretary of state to make that determination, "otherwise he's required to appoint" Sweda. LaRose spokeswoman Maggie Sheehan referred a Chronicle-Telegram reporter to section 3501.07 of the Ohio Revised Code, which states in part: "The secretary of state shall appoint such elector, unless the secretary of state has reason to believe that the elector would not be a competent member of such board." "In such cases the secretary of state shall so state in writing to the chairperson of such county executive committee, with the reasons therefor, and such committee may either recommend another elector or may apply for a writ of mandamus to the supreme court to compel the secretary of state to appoint the elector so recommended. In such action the burden of proof to show the qualifications of the person so recommended shall be on the committee making the recommendation. If no such recommendation is made, the secretary of state shall make the appointment." LaRose told Lorain County Democrats that his reason was Sweda's emails, and they have agreed that she replied to emails from constituents seeking information on her campaign but that she did not originate those emails. The state auditor's office has said it will review the matter in Lorain County's 2020 audit. The claim that Sweda used county workers to work on her campaign while they were on county time "is just not true," Giardini said. "The people who worked on her campaign who worked for the county were on furlough," he said. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him at @daveobrienCT on Twitter.