Sparks Fly During Eligibility Hearing for Snellville City Council Candidate

There was a heated debate Thursday (Oct. 3) during the eligibility hearing for Alisa Boykin, a candidate running for Snellville City Council. 

Dozens of people showed up in the community room of Snellville City Hall for the hearing regarding Boykin's residency. The hearing, which was open to the public, was called because Boykin had been challenged by local resident Marilyn Swinney. Swinney submitted a complaint to the city of Snellville alleging that Boykin did not meet the 12-month minimum residency required to run for council. Boykin had qualified in August to run for Post 3 against incumbent Mayor Pro Tem Tom Witts. 

In the late afternoon, Melisa Arnold, the city's election supervisor and city clerk, released a document with her conclusion and decision stating that the evidence against Boykin is insufficient, therefore making her eligible to run. Click here for more on the conclusion. 

Starting at 11:15 a.m., the hearing lasted about an hour and a half, with no witnesses called forward and only Boykin, Swinney and their lawyers speaking. On one side of the table sat Boykin with her lawyer, Phyllis Miller, while Swinney took the other side with her attorney, G. Jason Thompson. Arnold sat in the middle, with attorney Laurel E. Henderson behind her for legal guidance. 

"This is a serious matter to the two parties involved," said Henderson at the beginning of the hearing. "There is a fundamental right to vote in this country. There is a fundamental right to run for office if you're qualified for the office, and challenges to those are serious, and they're taken seriously. ... This is simply a hearing on a matter of law."

The hearing began with Swinney's attorney producing the three documents she based her claim on: Boykin's voter registration papers certified by the Secretary of State; her application for a board appointment on the Snellville Arts Commission; and a certified copy of her application for in-person advanced voting for Gwinnett County.

Her application for her Arts Commission board appointment says she's lived at her Snellville address for two years and one month.

However, Boykin's voter registration documents indicate that she used a Loganville address when voting in previous years, including in the 2012 general election. It wasn't until Aug. 23, 2013, when she asked for her voting address be changed to a Snellville residence. It was officially approved and changed Aug. 26, according to the documents. 

Her advance voting papers also show that she used her old address in Loganville to vote on Oct. 27, 2012, except she wrote in "Snellville" for the city.

When Thompson asked her why she used her old address during his cross-examination, Boykin explained that the polling supervisor told her to use the address on her driver's license, which reflected her old address, not where she currently resided. She admitted that using "Snellville" instead of "Loganville" was a mistake. 

Swinney and her attorney also reasoned that Section 3 in that same voting document states that everything Boykin wrote, including her address, should be valid and honest. 

But when Miller cross-examined Swinney, the attorney pointed out that the oath is actually an "attestation that the voter lives in Gwinnett County," not that everything on the document is true.

"The form does not require the elector to attest to a particular residence," Miller said.

Miller also pointed out that state law "allows an elector to move from one residence to another within the same county to vote using the old precinct address one time in order to facilitate people moving within the county."

After the cross-examination, Boykin's attorney produced six sworn affidavits from: Boykin's husband; her neighbor is Snellville; her sister, whom Boykin, her husband and their seven kids live with; a friend whom Boykin voted with last year; an election superintendent for Gwinnett; and her children's pediatrician. 

Miller also discussed how her client had to vacate her Loganville home by December 2011 because it was foreclosed on. Boykin and her family had moved into her sister's home in Snellville off Englewood Way where they have resided ever since. They provided a document indicating the transfer of ownership from her to the bank.

Boykin expressed that she was not looking to relocate her and her family and had decided to stay with her sister. 

She and her attorney also said that Boykin had leases for her business and online receipts that connected her to the Snellville address. 

After the hearing, Boykin's attorney commented to Patch. 

"I think things went very well today for Ms. Boykin," said Miller. "She is a properly qualified candidate. We're hopeful the hearing officer will rule in that way. I think it's an unfortunate waste of time and tax dollars having had to go through this process based an individual's misinformation and misunderstanding of the evidence, but we'll see when the ruling comes out and [Boykin] will focus on her campaign.

Thompson offered no comment to Patch. 

What do you think about the eligibility hearing for Alisa Boykin? Tell us in the comments.