Could a Louisiana registrar of voters remain qualified in her parish if she spent more time at her spouse's home in another parish?

Plain-English summary

The St. Helena Parish registrar of voters asked whether she still qualified as a parish resident after remarrying. She had long lived in St. Helena, owned a home there, claimed a homestead exemption on it, used it as her mailing address, and was registered to vote there. She and her husband also used his Tangipahoa Parish home, where they stayed more often.

The 1998 attorney general opinion concluded that she was a St. Helena resident and qualified voter. It read the registrar statute as requiring residence in the parish, without requiring the registrar's domicile to be there. The office expressly declined to decide where her domicile was. It also pointed to the voter registration rule tying a person who claims a homestead exemption to the precinct of that residence and to the rule treating a married woman's voting residence like any other citizen's.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1998. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Registrars of voters at the time

The office found this registrar satisfied the parish residence and qualified-voter requirements despite using a second home more often. The opinion did not decide her domicile.

Parish appointing authorities at the time

The opinion read R.S. 18:52 as requiring a registrar to be a resident and qualified voter of the parish where the registrar served. It did not read that provision as requiring domicile in the parish.

Voters with homes in more than one parish at the time

The opinion quoted the rule that a person residing in multiple Louisiana places could register and vote in only one of them. It also quoted the rule directing a homestead-exemption claimant to register and vote in the precinct where that residence was located.

Common questions

Q: Did staying more often at a spouse's house in another parish disqualify this registrar?
A: No. On the facts given, the opinion found that she remained a St. Helena Parish resident and qualified voter.

Q: Did the attorney general decide which parish was her domicile?
A: No. The opinion expressly left that question undecided because it read the registrar statute as requiring residence, rather than domicile, in the parish.

Q: How did her homestead exemption matter to voter registration?
A: The opinion said the then-applicable voting rule required a person claiming a homestead exemption to register and vote in the precinct containing that residence.

Q: Did marriage change how the opinion determined her voting residence?
A: No. It quoted a provision saying a married woman's residence for registration and voting was determined in the same manner as any other citizen's.

Background and statutory framework

R.S. 18:52 required a registrar to be a resident and qualified voter of the parish served. The opinion distinguished residence from domicile and did not decide the latter. It applied the voter registration provisions in R.S. 18:101 to the registrar's St. Helena home and homestead exemption.

Citations and references

• R.S. 18:52 (registrar residence and qualified-voter requirement)
• R.S. 18:101 (voting residence and homestead-exemption provisions)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/98-0277

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain; the linked PDF is authoritative.

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
CIVIL DIVISION
P.O. Box 94005
TEL.: (504) 342-7013
BATON ROUGE
FAX: (504) 342-2090
RICHARD P. IEYOUB
70804-9005
ATTORNEY GENERAL

AUGUST 251~98
OPINION
98 --277

27 ELECTIONS - Candidates, nomination
125
eligibility
Taxation 0 Homestaed Exemption
R.S. 18:52
R.S. 18:101
Ms. Barbara Derrough
Registrar of Voters
A person may have more than one
St. Helena Parish
residence, and having a home
in a parish, a registered voter
P.O. Box 543
of that parish with a h6mestead
Greensburg, LA 70441-0543
exemptlon there qualifies that
person as a resident of the parish.
Dear Ms. Derrough:
-This office is in receipt of your re_quest for an opinion of the Attorney General in regard to your residency. You indicate you have lived in St. Helena Parish for 30 years, a registered voter since 1971, and Registrar of Voters since 1980. You have a home in the Parish titled in your name upon which you file a homestead exemption and use as your mailing address. However, you remarried in 1996 and your husband has a home in Tangipahoa Parish. You both utilize each of these homes although you both stay at his home in Tangipahoa Parish more often than-in St. Helena. You ask if you are a legal resident of St. Helena Parish.
We note that both La. Const. Art. ii, Sec. 5 and R.S. 18:51 provide that the governing authority of each parish shall appoint a regis- trar of voters. R.S. 18:52 then provides, "Each registrar shall be a resident and qualified voter of the parish in which he is to per- . form his duties."
The courts and this office have recognized that an individual may have many residences but one domicile, M@$ser v. London, 438 So. 2d 546, (La~ 1983), Herp_in v. Boudreaux, 709 So. 2d 269 (La. App 1998), A~tin v. Terrebonne, 612 So. 2d 107 (La.App 1992), Atty.
Gen. Op Nos. 95-154, 93-47. In the Autin case the court stated the fact that one residence is maintained for political purposes does not itself prevent the residence from being actual and bona fide.
R.S. 18:52 merely requires the registrar be a resident of the Parish and does not specify they be domiciled in the Parish.
Without deciding if you are domiciled in St. Helena, we find you are unquestionably a resident of St. Helena Parish.
Additionally, you are a qualified voter of St. Helena Parish having your homestead exemption there which is consistent with R.S.
18:I01(B) as amended by Act 139 of 1997 which mandates if a person claims a homestead exemption, he shall register and vote in the precinct in which that residence is located. That statute provides

Page 2

Ms. Barbara Derrough
OPINION 98-277
Page 2

that "resident" means a citizen who resides in the parish "in which he offers to register and vote, with an intention to reside there indefinitely", but if a citizen resides at more than one place in the state, "he may register and vote only at one of the places at which he resides" This is clarified by the requirement if a per- son claims a homestead exemption, "he shall register and vote in the precinct in which that residence is located." We also find it significant that R.S. 18:101 also provides,"For purposes of voter registration and voting, the residence of a married woman shall be determined in the same manner as is required for any other citizen." Accordingly, we find you are a legal resident and qualified voter of St. Helena Parish. We hope this sufficiently answers your inquiry, but if we can be of further assistance, do not hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely yours,
RILAKARD P. IEYOUB
Attorney General

Assistant Attorney General

BBR