Is Residence the Same as Domicile in Election Law
To register in Maine, you must: • be a citizen of the United States; • Be at least 16 years old (you must be at least 18 years old to vote, except that you can vote in primaries if you are 17 years old but will be 18 years old in the general election); • You have and maintain an elective residence in the municipality (i.e. city, city, plantation or unorganized municipality) in which you wish to register. Students. If you are a student, you have the right to enroll in the Maine community where you attend the school, provided you have established optional residency there, as defined in Maine election laws and explained above. You can establish optional residency (i.e., your “permanent and primary residence”) at your Maine school address, whether that residence is a dormitory, apartment, house, or even a hotel. Maine law expressly states that you will not obtain or lose residency solely because of your presence or absence from the state while attending school, and this provision cannot be construed “as preventing a student of an educational institution from qualifying as an elector in the city where the student resides while attending that school.” “Home” means a person`s principal residence, the place where he or she resides and which he or she considers to be the centre of his or her domestic, social and civic life. Residence is primarily a matter of intention, supported by the factual circumstances of the individual. Once a person has established residence, the establishment of a new residence implies that he or she deliberately renounces his or her former residence. For each applicant, the Registrar assumes that the residence is at the residential address indicated by the person in the application.
The Registrar may not request evidence to rebut this presumption if the request appears legitimate, except in the cases referred to in section 1VAC20-40-40 B and C. You should be aware that if you register to vote in Maine, you will be deemed to have declared your residence in Maine, which may affect compliance with other Maine laws, including motor vehicle laws and tax laws. If you drive a car in Maine, you must obtain a Maine driver`s license within thirty days of establishing your residence here. Driving without a Maine license more than ninety days after establishing residence in the state is a crime under Maine law. If you are a Maine resident and own a vehicle here, state law requires you to register that vehicle within thirty days of establishing residence in Maine. If you designate Maine as your place of residence, you may be treated as a resident of Maine for income tax purposes and be subject to Maine income tax. Your place of residence is your address in the state in which you last resided immediately prior to your departure from the United States. Maine Electoral Residence “residence” for election purposes is defined in the Maine Elections Act (Title 21-A, Section 112(1)) as “the place where the person has established a fixed and principal residence to which the person, when temporarily absent, wishes to return.” Note that this definition has two parts: 1) the establishment of permanent and principal residence in a particular place and 2) the intention to return if temporarily absent. If you live abroad for an extended period of time during an election season and need to vote by mail, use the Federal Postcard Application (FPCA) to request your absentee ballot. Your preferred place will remain your last home before leaving the United States to study abroad.
Citizens who live outside the United States (also known as “foreign voters”). If you are eligible to register to vote, but you reside outside the United States and do not have a permanent primary residence or other address in Maine, you can register and log in with the last residential address where you lived in Maine immediately before you left the United States. “Address” or “residential address” for the purposes of registration and confirmation of address means the residential address in the electoral district required for voter registration. An alternate mailing address may be provided in an application for registration on the list of electors if: (i) the applicant`s residential address cannot receive mail; or (ii) the voter is otherwise legally entitled to provide an alternate mailing address. Alternative mailing addresses must be sufficient to allow delivery of mail by the U.S. Postal Service. The mailbox in the published list may be provided by the U.S. Postal Service or by a commercial mail receiving agency (CMRA) described in the U.S. Postal Service Domestic Mail Manual. To reapply for legal residence, contact your legal counsel or military legal aid office, as there may be other factors to consider, such as tax implications. “Valid” for all purposes related to voter identification (i) the document appears to have actually been issued by the issuing agency or agency listed on the document, and (ii) the document must be current or expired within the last 12 months. The expiration date of a Virginia driver`s license is not taken into account when determining the validity of a driver`s license offered for voting purposes.
The returning officer decides whether the document is officially acceptable based on its front. It is important to remember that your elective residence address listed in the FPCA must be an address in the United States. Providing a foreign address in section 2 of the form may automatically disqualify you. According to this definition, residency is something you determine, not something you choose. Members of the service, your voting residence is usually the same address as the one listed on your vacation and income account, which sets your state for state withholding taxes. Please consult legal counsel if you have tax matters. “Residence”, “Residence” or “Resident” for the purposes of registration and eligibility to vote means and requires both residence and residence. The Maine courts have ruled that elective residence, as defined in Maine`s election laws, is consistent with the common law concept of residence. While “residence” usually refers to where you physically live, residency means something more. To establish a home, you must intend to make a place your home and not just physically live there. The legal residence and the place of choice are sometimes confused with the place of residence of the documents. While your optional residency may be the same as your residency at the beginning of your military career, you will need to improve your elective residency if, at any time, you change your legal residency.
Voting in an election for federal office often cannot be used as the sole basis for determining residency for state and local tax collection purposes. You can keep the same residence or residence established by your member even if you were not physically present at that address, as amended by the Military Spouse Residence Assistance Act (FRSRM) dated December 31, 2018. Or you can choose to maintain your established residency or residency (if different from your sponsor). Uniformed military personnel and their family members cannot arbitrarily choose the State they designate as their legal place of residence without meeting the State`s residency requirements. According to this definition, residency is something you determine, not something you choose. You can provide documents about the following that the Registrar of Electors may consider in determining whether you reside in a particular township in Maine: Do not confuse place of residence with place of residence. Your home is where you lived when you joined the military. That doesn`t change while you`re on active duty. Your adopted residence may be the same as your place of residence, but will need to be updated if you decide to form a new state of legal residence. They may have only one place of legal residence at a time. “Home of Record” should not be confused with legal residence.
“Home of Record” is the address a soldier had when he entered service. It doesn`t change. The domicile of registration and legal residence may be the same address and remain so even if the person or his or her relatives no longer reside in the place until the member has established residence elsewhere after entering active service. In order to recover the “Home of Record” as legal residence, he/she must restore physical presence and intention to remain or return to the state. Uniformed service voters. If you are a member of uniformed service and are eligible to register to vote, you will not obtain or lose your place of residence solely because of your presence or absence during active service in uniform. Generally, the registered location you claim for your service establishment is your established residence for voting purposes. If that legal resident is in Maine, you can register to vote at that address. Your spouse or dependents may have the same elective residence as you, or they may have established and maintained a separate residence where they would register to vote. • A direct affidavit of your intention to be in a particular location; • The location of an apartment you currently occupy; • The place where you registered your motor vehicle (if you are the owner of the vehicle); • Your current tax return or other tax document showing your residential address; • The residential address where your mail will be received; • The residential address on your current hunting or fishing licence; • The residence address on your driver`s license or identity card; • your right to public benefits based on residence; or • Any other document you may have (such as a utility bill with your home address) that shows objective facts that tend to indicate where you live.