Posted on 10/03/2007 7:25:09 AM PDT by SmithL
Former U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Sr. is among 74,296 people who voted early in the Memphis municipal election.
The longtime don-at-large of Memphis' most powerful political family, Ford was in Memphis Sept. 27 to cast his ballot at the Pyramid Recovery Center.
But owing to legal declarations Ford has made to the state of Florida, his eligibility to vote in Memphis is questionable.
Tennessee law requires voters to keep their permanent residence in the state, and according to state law, voters here can only have one permanent residence. That's a problem for Ford, who this year took advantage of a homestead tax break for Sunshine State residents by telling Florida officials his $2.5 million home on Miami Beach's Fisher Island is his primary and permanent residence. As a result, Ford declared himself a citizen of Florida for 2007, potentially making himself ineligible to vote in Tennessee this year.
In addition to his 2,530-square-foot Fisher Island home, Ford owns with Michelle D. Roberts a house at 1039 Murray Hill, which he registered with the Shelby County Election Commission as his Memphis domicile. But Ford does not treat the house as a primary residence. In fact, the politician-turned-lobbyist told the Shelby County Property Assessor his main home is in Miami Beach, property records show.
Casting a ballot in Tennessee when the person knows he is ineligible to vote is a felony.
Reached Tuesday, Ford refused to answer questions. "I'm in a lunch meeting," he said, "and I don't have time." Ford did not respond to subsequent calls.
Although Ford has owned his Florida home since 1999, his eligibility to vote in Memphis wasn't uncertain in previous years because he had not registered for a homestead exemption. That changed last year, when Ford told officials in Miami-Dade County that his Fisher Island home would be his domicile starting in 2007. Under Florida law, property owners who file homestead exemptions are eligible for a $25,000 reduction in their taxable value and, more important, a cap on the rate at which their appraised value may increase in Florida's historically hot real estate market.
Under Tennessee law, residency concerning voting rights is a complicated issue, said Brook Thompson, the state election coordinator. People who leave the state of Tennessee may retain their voting rights as long as they do not establish permanent residency in another state.
The simplest way to determine whether a Tennessee citizen has established permanent residency elsewhere, Thompson said, is to see if he or she registered to vote in another state.
State officials view registering to vote in another state as a relinquishment of Tennessee rights in favor of those from that state.
"Typically what we're looking for is: Did they register to vote somewhere else?" Thompson said. "If they register there, they are saying their homestead is there."
Ford has not registered to vote in Florida, according to the Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections office.
But by registering for the state homestead exemption, Ford made the same declaration he would have made in registering to vote: He said his homestead is in Florida, not in Tennessee.
Asked if the Florida homestead declaration should make Ford ineligible to vote in Tennessee, just as it would had he made the same declaration in registering to vote there, Thompson paused to think.
"I don't know," he answered.
He added: "We can't be checking on what voters' tax status is for homes in other states. What we try to do is keep our rolls as clean as possible based on voting activity."
This isn't the first time voting irregularities have concerned the Ford political family, whose members have filled seats in the U.S. Congress and state legislature and on the Shelby County Commission and Memphis City Council.
The state Senate in 2006 voted to oust Ophelia Ford -- only for her to be re-elected months later -- amid a voter-fraud scandal in which The Commercial Appeal found two of Ford's ballots came from dead voters.
And DemocRATs can find no examples of dead voters casting ballots?
Hmmmm......
This audio just released from Harold Ford Sr himself
“Harold Ford Sr votes whereever Harold Ford Sr wants to vote. Harold Ford Sr can vote in Tennesse and Harold Ford Sr can vote in Florida because Harold Ford Sr lives in both states. Harold Ford Sr has so many houses, Harold Ford Sr doesn’t even know where they are at. You can’t expect Harold Ford Sr to keep up with everything. Harold Ford Sr invites everyone concerned with this matter to have a Coke and a smile and shut the [beep] up”
VOTE FRAUD.....typical Democrat.
Well, he has gotten away with ignoring man’s law and God’s comandements, both for years, so he will keep on as long as he can.
BWAAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAA
I think there a lot of people who don’t know the law or don’t think they will get caught.
With the large number of older retirees who live in the north during the winter and move south for winter, this is becoming a bigger issue for vote and tax purposes.
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