By Carla Branch
alexandrianews.org
City Council member-elect Alicia R. Hughes (Photo: Regan Kireilis)
Three Alexandria registered voters, Michael Reid, Hector Huezo and Ronald Rigby, have asked the City’s registrar, Electoral Board, City Attorney and Commonwealth’s Attorney to investigate Councilwoman Elect Alicia Hughes’ eligibility to run for and be elected to that office.
Attorney J. Gerald Hebert filed a letter with Alexandria officials earlier today asking that they conduct a full investigation into Hughes’ eligibility to run for and serve as a member of the Alexandria City Council. As alexandrianews.org reported on June 5, Hughes owns property in Baltimore, Md, on which she received a Homestead Tax Credit in July, 2007, and July, 2008. Maryland law allows such tax credits to homeowners who claim such a property as their primary residence and reside there more than six months of the year. She also was registered to vote in both Maryland and Virginia as recently as June 9, 2009. According to voter records in Maryland, she voted in the February, 2008, presidential primary in Maryland. She registered to vote in Virginia on May 1, 2008.
In his letter, dated June 12, 2009, Hebert cited, Williams v. Commonwealth, 166 Va. 272,277 (1914). “The Court concluded that, ‘for the purpose of voting and holding office a man cannot have more than one legal residence…Where a man has two places of living, which is his legal residence is to be determined largely, where the right to vote or hold office is involved, by his intention. When he acquires a new legal residence he loses the old, but to effect this there must be both act and intention.’ Id. At 277. The Court recognized that a person cannot be eligible to vote or run for office in more than one place, and that while residency is largely a matter of voter intent, that intent must be manifest by action.”
According to statements by Hughes during her campaign, she moved to Alexandria two years before her May, 2009 election. Throughout the campaign, however, she drove a 2005 Mercedes C230 that Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration records show, as recently as June 3, registered to her at her Baltimore address. Maryland MVA records also show a Maryland driver’s license in her name, which will expire at the end of this month. The only address that alexandrianews.org could find for Hughes is her Yoakum Parkway address where she signed a lease in March, 2008.
According to Hebert’s letter, the question of residency hinges on intent. Hebert cited a Maryland case involving a residency challenge to the eligibility of a candidate. “In Bainum v. Kalen, 272 Md. 490, 497 (1974), the Court of Appeals similarly held that intent was the primary factor in determining a person’s domicile, and that intent was based not on what one says at a particular time, but what one does. Id. When a person’s residence is not clear:
‘[The] Court will look to and weigh a myriad of other factors in deciding a person’s domicile. These include such things as: the paying of taxes and statements on tax returns; the ownership of property; where the person’s children attend school; the address at which one receives mail; statements as to residency contained in contracts or other documents; statements on licenses or governmental documents; where furniture and other personal belongings are kept; which jurisdiction’s banks are utilized; membership in professional, fraternal, religious or social organizations; where one’s regular physicians and dentists are located; where one maintains charge accounts; and any other facts revealing contact with one or the other jurisdiction.’ Id. At 499.”
Hughes is scheduled to be sworn in as a member of the Alexandria City Council on July 1. “I respectfully urge you to conduct such an inquiry as soon as practicable in accordance with Va. Code §24.2-429. If such a review cannot be completed in time for the July 1 searing in, then Ms. Hughes’ swearing in should be postponed until such time as a final determination of her voter registration eligibility and residency may be determined in accordance with Virginia law,” he wrote.
Officials are reviewing Hebert’s request but had no further comment.
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