Friday, October 07, 2005

Damn. There goes the neighborhood.

I live in Kerrville, the county seat of Kerr County. So I was surprised to see an AP story in the local paper today that Karl Rove officially lives here (the link is to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram because the local paper doesn't carry the story on its web site, even though it's on the front page):
A Kerr County retired nurse is asking the local district attorney to investigate whether it is legal for presidential adviser Karl Rove to vote in Texas while he is living in Washington, D.C.
Rove, it turns out, owns houses in Washington and Florida, but he's registered here, ostensibly living at a bed-and-breakfast somewhere in Kerr County. (This press release says he owns two rental cottages, which might or might not mean the same thing.)

But wait, there's more. The AP also reports that "the Texas Secretary of State has said that Texans who move out of state can still vote in Texas as long as they intend to return to the state." (This is what allowed the first President Bush to vote in Texas while in office; he obviously was living in the White House, but his residence for voting purposes was a suite at a hotel/resort in Houston. And yes, he did move back to Texas.)

But wait, there's more. The AP also reports that Elizabeth Reyes, a lawyer in the Secretary of State's office, was fired after the Washington Post quoted her saying it might be vote fraud to register to vote if you don't live in the place you're registered. Reyes was told she was fired because she'd talked to the media in violation of agency policy. (You partisans can squabble among yourselves about whether that's fishy or not.)

But wait, there's more. The AP also also reports that an entity called Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington "filed a complaint about Rove last month, but it was invalid because the complaint must be filed by a registered voter in the same county as the voter in question." The eventual complainant was Frances Lovett of Comfort (right down the road from here), who says CREW didn't contact her; she contacted them.

That's all I have for now; but if I see Rove buying sushi at the H-E-B, I'll be sure to post it.

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