Home is where the candidate says it is

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Kevin Rader adopted the tone of a seasoned community old-timer lecturing the rootless newcomers on the peculiar folkways of state House District 78 during a candidate debate last week.

"It's an odd thing to be running for office against competition that doesn't actually live in the district," Rader said of Democratic primary rivals Steve Nichol and Steve Perman.

Home is where the candidate says it is

The state's residency requirements for political candidates are imprecise, but one Florida Division of Elections legal opinion puts it this way:

'No provision of the Florida Election Code defines legal residency. ...

'Legal residence is ... determined by looking to where a person intends to make a home permanent and to whether factual evidence exists to corroborate that intent. In making this determination, no single piece of evidence, such as a homestead exemption, is decisive. As directed in (1947 Florida Supreme Court ruling) Ogden vs. Ogden ..."the best proof of one's domicile [legal residence] is where he says it is."

'The establishment of legal residence depends on a variety of acts or declarations, all of which must be considered and weighed on a case-by-case basis. Examples of evidence which may be considered in determining whether legal residency has been established include driver's license, tax receipts, mail receipts, bank accounts, the relocation of personal effects, and the purchase or rental of property.'