Ever wondered what is necessary to establish residency for voter registration purposes in Virginia, for individuals who wish to vote and/or hold office?

There is no legal process for establishing residency in Virginia. However, to be eligible "to register to vote in Virginia a person must meet all of the following criteria:

* be a resident of Virginia (A person who has come to Virginia for temporary purposes and intends to return to another state is not considered a resident for voting purposes)
*be a U. S. Citizen
*be 18 years old (Any person who is17 years old and will be eighteen years of age at the next general election shall be permitted to register in advance and also vote in any intervening primary or special election)
*does not claim the right to vote in any other State
*not currently declared mentally incompetent by a court of law
*if convicted of a felony, your right to vote must have been restored" (Virginia State Board of Elections, 2001).

Legally, someone must have both domicile and place of abode where they are declaring themselves to be a resident for voter registration purposes. Domicile is what you consider your legal residence; place of abode means you must have a dwelling there in which you dwell a substantial portion of time. Merely owning a piece of property or paying taxes in a particular locality does not establish residency (Code of Virginia - Elections, 242-101).

Consider, for example, college students or individuals with multiple homes.

In practice, college students may register to vote in Virginia if they demonstrate residence in Virginia -- even though they pay taxes somewhere else (assuming they do not 'intend' to return to another state).

Multiple homeowners may register to vote in Virginia even if they live year round in another state -- as long as they spend some unspecified amount of time at their place of abode in Virginia and are not simultaneously registered to vote in another state.

Multiple homeowners within Virginia may live predominately in one locality and vote in another locality as long as their established domicile is the same place as they are registered to vote [noting that they cannot be registered to vote simultaneously in more than one locality].

Moreover, there is nothing in the code to prevent sequential voting. That is, a person with dual residences in Virginia may register to vote for an election in one locality and turn around after the election and register to vote in another locality for the next election.

In Albemarle/Charlottesville, this would be the equivalent of registering to vote for the Albemarle County School Board and Board of Supervisors in the Fall and then changing one's registration to Charlottesville in time to vote for City Council in the Spring.

There are some exceptions to the general residency regulations for the military. For more on establishing residency and residency requirements, see Code of Virginia - Elections.

So what about the residency requirements for holding office in Virginia?

According to Article II. Sec. 5 of the Virginia Constitution, "The only qualification to hold any office ... shall be that a person must have been a resident of the Commonwealth for one year next preceding his election and be qualified to vote for that office ..." [with the exception of the Commonwealth's Attorney].

'Qualified to vote' means the person must be registered, or able to be registered, in the locality in which s/he is running as of the day s/he files his/her statement of qualification.

As above, this does not prevent an office holder with dual residencies in Virginia from living the majority of time in one locality while serving in another locality as long as s/he claims as residence the locality in which s/he serves.

Voter registrars often routinely update their residency information through the postal service. And, of course, at the end of the day, a registrant's eligibility may be challenged. The challenging process is described in the Code of Virginia in Sec. 24.2-431 through 435.

Note: There has been discussion in other states about allowing people to vote in more than one jurisdiction.

For a taste of this discussion, see Extending the Vote to Part Time Residents and Al Weed Comments On the Right to Vote in Local Elections Wherever One Establishes a Residence and Al Weed Comments on Serial Voting.