A letter from the two Republican members of the Mahoning County Board of Elections asks Secretary of State Frank LaRose to side with them in certifying state Rep. Tex Fischer to the Nov. 5 ballot, stating the process to make Fischer the party’s candidate was done correctly.

But the two Democratic board members, who object to the Republican legislator’s eligibility, wrote in a letter to LaRose, a Republican, that Fischer’s “filings for candidacy are deficient under” state laws “and that his name should not be added to the 2024 general election ballot.”

The board voted 2-2 along political partisan lines Aug. 15 on the eligibility of Fischer, R-Boardman, to be on the ballot. LaRose is responsible for breaking the tie, which he hadn’t done as of Tuesday.

Mahoning County Democratic Party Chairman Chris Anderson objected Aug. 12 to Fischer’s certification, writing the state representative “did not comply with the provisions” of state law “by failing to list his former name on Ohio Secretary of State form 289 — his Certification of Selection of Candidate to Fill Vacancy in Party Nomination.”

Fischer, a political consultant and first vice chairman of the Mahoning County Republican Party, changed his name May 19, 2020, from Austin James Fischer to Austin James Texford Fischer. His previous name isn’t listed on the form.

Sections of Ohio law require candidates for public office who have had a name change in the past five years to disclose both their present and former names on their statements of candidacy, wrote David Betras and Joyce Kale-Pesta, both Democrats, in their letter to LaRose.

The sections “contain a specific obligation that all candidates desiring public office would be required to follow. These provisions have been used over the past two years to prohibit otherwise qualified candidates from accessing the ballot,” they wrote. “This includes candidates that had a name change due to attaining U.S. citizenship and three transgender candidates that had a name change. In the interests of fairness and equal protection, it is important that the law be applied equally to all those who desire to hold public office.”

But Sandra Barger and Bob Aurandt, the Republican board members, wrote LaRose that because Fischer was filling a vacancy on the Nov. 5 ballot in the 59th Ohio House District and was appointed by the chairmen and secretaries of the Mahoning and Columbiana Republican parties, the sections cited by the Democrats don’t apply.

“There is no statutory requirement that a political party, in certifying its selection to fill a vacancy in the party’s nomination for an office, list any prior names of the person selected,” the Republicans wrote to LaRose.

They pointed to ORC Section 3513.31, which was followed in selecting Fischer to replace Al Cutrona, R-Canfield, who resigned June 26 to become a state senator. Fischer was officially named as Cutrona’s successor to fill out the remainder of his term also on June 26 by the Ohio House Republican Caucus.

Regarding Fischer, the Republican board of elections members, wrote, “He did not complete or file a declaration of candidacy or a nominating petition” so “the requirement of R.C. 3513.271 is not applicable and there is no basis for the protest.”

The Republicans wrote, “It is a well-known principle of Ohio election law that our laws must be liberally construed in favor of persons seeking to hold office and to avoid restricting the right of electors to choose from all qualified candidates.”

They added, “We also know that we are instructed to avoid unduly technical interpretations that impede the public of having free and competitive elections. Finally, we are reminded that under our political system, it is (a) basic premise that a political party is entitled to have qualified candidates for office at the general election.”

The Democrats wrote regardless of LaRose’s decision, his office should update the Ohio Candidate Requirement Guide to “identify applicable sections of the name change laws. Several individuals and groups advocated for this change when three transgender candidates were denied access to the ballot earlier this year. (Two were permitted to run.) Yet the guide appears to be unchanged. Should Mr. Fischer proceed to the ballot, it will be hard for the general public to understand the distinctions for why some candidates were able to proceed to the ballot and others were not.”

Laura Schaeffer, a Beloit councilwoman and integrated library systems administrator for the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, is the Democratic candidate in the state representative race.

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