O'Malley: He lives in Annapolis but votes in Baltimore
The Governor no longer lives or owns a home in Baltimore, but he still votes there. His election day schedule lists a noon stopover to vote at Ray of Hope Baptist Church, near his old house in Northeast Baltimore. You know, the house he sold a year and a half ago.
But apparently that's A-OK.
The state's highest court ruled two years ago that Marylanders must vote in the precinct or ward in which they "reside." But according to the Attorney General's Office, the Governor doesn't reside in that big, stately mansion in Annapolis, where he lives, eats his meals and tucks his children into bed at night.
"Baltimore City is his domicile," said Sandy Brantley, an assistant attorney general and counsel to the State Board of Elections. "You have a domicile until you establish another one elsewhere ... The fact that the Constitution requires him to live in Annapolis does not make that his fixed, permanent home."
Brantley said it all comes down to intent. What does the Governor intend to be his domicile?
According to election records, it's his former home in Baltimore, which he sold in Aug. 2007. And just so you know, I intend to live in a picturesque, ranch on Gibson Island. But something tells me my vote won't count there.
For more detail on the election law and the issue of "domiciles," go to: www.oag.state.md.us/Press/2008/092608b.htm
--Melissa Harris
Comments
In the Baltimore Sun today, people were told they had to vote in their new precinct, even if they were registered in the old precinct or District/ward.
I say people should vote where they are registered. If they were foreclosed and moved, vote where the folks represented you for the foreclosure, unless you changed the address timely.
Did you move and not change your voter registration address - vote where you are registered. If you follow the Sun and show up at the new location, if you are not in the same election district, your mandatory provisional ballot votes will not count. You will have better luck next time, but this time, the Sun will have suppressed your vote.
Only Maryland Courts could have found that politicians do not live where their residence is. This is a classic case of the courts stepping into a political issue and making bad law.
If Governor and Mrs. O'Malley sold their house in Baltimore more than six months ago, they are required to change the address on their drivers' licenses and vehicle registrations. Did they? I'll be they did. In fact, if they had to produce ID, they would have one with an Annapolis address.
Posted by: Bruce Robinson | November 3, 2008 6:41 PM
I think I will go find an expensive mansion in Howard County or someplace similar and attempt to vote there. After all, Brantley said it boils down to "intent".
I intend to move to a mansion in my next life, so the intent of that should be enough.
Gee, what do you think the chances of a poor Republican schmuck like me getting away with that are? Maybe if my last name was O'Malley instead of O'Connell I could...
Posted by: Susan WhoHasAJob and is now Cosmo Girl | November 3, 2008 7:05 PM
Sorry, Bruce, but I was an elections official for years. The Guv's, and the recently foreclosed unique situations notwithstanding, it is illegal to vote in a precinct in which you do not live.
Simply put, if you were simply too lazy to update your registration when you moved, you cannot vote. Before someone starts screaming disenfranchisment, this law was devised to prevent folks who no longer have a stake from voting on local races and referendums. It's fair and it's the law.
Posted by: laura | November 3, 2008 7:07 PM
This is not unlike the military, where you vote where your "home" is, and not where the gov't has you stationed. I don't doubt that the Gov will move back to Baltimore when he's done at the statehouse. Can you blame the man for selling his home, while the MD gov't provides one for him? He's got a family to think about, just like the rest of us.
Posted by: Adam | November 3, 2008 7:53 PM
I happen to own and operate a political web site. So is it coincidence that I experienced an issue at the polls today. Of course it is, but that's what makes it troubling. How many others out there are experiencing the same issues?
http://liberaljunkie.com/story_1104080815_today_is_the_day
Posted by: Liberal Junkie | November 4, 2008 10:16 AM