Santorum's vote upheld.

[Bunny]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08319/927956-100.stm?cmpid=news.xml

<snip>
Allegheny County elections officials today declared Rick Santorum something he already thought he was: a voter in Penn Hills.

Elections director Mark Wolosik ruled against a challenge to absentee ballots cast Nov. 4 by Mr. Santorum and his wife, Karen, saying the petitioner, Ed Vecchio, a Penn Hills Democratic committeeman, did not present sufficient evidence that the couple does not reside there.

"Wow! My vote counts!" said Mr. Santorum, reached in Northern Virginia, where he and his family have lived since he lost re-election to the Senate in 2006.

The Santorums maintained a residential listing at a home they own in Penn Hills. Two years ago, Mr. Vecchio's wife, Erin Vecchio, a Penn Hills school board member and chair of that community's Democratic committee, challenged the family's residency, forcing them to withdraw their children from the school district, which had underwritten tuition for a cyber charter school they attended from their home.
<snip>

I'm beginning to wonder if Santorum doesn't have eyes on the governorship after all. Why would he continue to maintain his residency here if he doesn't?

[T Wolf]

1. Did anyone check whether he also voted in VA? Wouldn't put it past the scumbag.

[JPZenger]

5. Very serious crime to vote twice

I have to assume he isn't stupid enough to vote twice. That is a serious crime.

[Virginian]

7. He would have to be registered in Virginia to vote in Virginia.

If he registered in Virginia, the Board of Elections would contact Pennsylvania to inform them that he was registered in VA and PA would take him off their pollbooks.

[livetohike]

2. Wonder where his driver's license is from?

I don't get how this dual-residency works. To whom does he pay taxes from any income he makes? PA and VA?

[Bunny]

3. I don't understand the residency rule as it applies to voting.

I mean, I think college kids don't have to be registered in the town where they attend college to vote - I'm pretty sure they can vote in their hometowns if they like.

For the presidential election it probably wouldn't matter where you voted so long as you only voted once. But I would be pissed off if people who didn't live in my town, or county, or state, got to vote for those who would govern me at those different levels.

Why does Santorum, who CLEARLY does not reside in PA, get to vote on any state or local candidates?

[tigereye]

9. I'd be curious to know how this applies to any Senator and his/her family

I think Penn Hills is where the Santorums used to live before he was elected to Congress (by accusing the previous Congressman of not living in the district) :eyes:


It's very ironic. The thing about the school district paying for cyber school when he lives in VA bothered me more than the voting issue does.



hey Bunny! Happy New Year!

[JPZenger]

4. It would be interesting to know if he pays Virginia's annual car tax

I would be interested to know if Santorum pays the annual car tax that applies in Virginia. In Fairfax County, where he really lives, every person who keeps any motor vehicle must pay an annual tax that is equal to about 5% of the value of the vehicle. The following says the tax is levied even if the car is registered in another state.

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dta/cartax_motorvehicles.htm

[Virginian]

6. I think he lives in Loudoun, west of Leesburg.

Still he would have to pay the Personal Property tax on motor vehicles garaged in the county.

I don't know if the rules have changed, but from what I remember from my Step Father's situation is that his domicile does not have to be his residence.

Being a property owner in an area where you have lived entitles you to claim legal residence there and allows you to vote in that area. My Step did not claim either of his rental properties as his residence, instead, he claimed a small hotel where he had no financial interest. He had to have a specific location as his legal residence in order to be assigned to a precinct. He didn't vote absentee, we would drive the hundred miles on the afternoon of election day for he and my mom to vote in person. He also subscribed to and wrote for his hometown newspaper. His intention was to return to his hometown when he retired from his Government job and get mixed up in hometown politics. He died (in 1970) two years before his targeted retirement date.

Edited to add:
In this case, both the Domicile and the Residence were in Virginia so there was no question about which state income tax to pay.
To those who don't know, Loudoun county is in Virginia, west of Fairfax county. His domicile is almost as far away from DC as is the state line of Pennsylvania.

[corporatemedia]

8. Car tax, Loudon County, and Santorum...

Yes, that is a question I always hoped someone in VA would follow up on. I did not have the resources to do so.

Considering that for a lousy 70 bucks, he was willing to lie by claiming that his PRIMARY residence was in Allegheny County (which is punishable by up to a year in prison), it would not be a surprise to find out he's been cheating VA out of their due.

As to where he lives, yes it is Loudoun County.

Details about his VA home are available online by following the instructions in this post:

http://santorumcybergate.blogspot.com/2006/09/pgh-p-g-was-wrong-about-tricky-ricky.html

and of course the full set of pictures of his Virginia home are here:

http://santorumcybergate.blogspot.com/2005/01/where-does-tricky-ricky-really-live.html