June 8, 1939
Honorable .L. R. Thompson
County Auditor
Taylor County
Abilene, Texas
Dear Sir: Opinion No. 0~839
Re: Can a married man living
in Baltimore, working
for the government at
Wash’ington claim
residence in Texas and
vote there?
This is to acknowledge receipt ‘of your letter of May 18th
requesting our opinion based on the following statembnt:
‘A man whose mother lives here and who lived here prior
to ,his majority is now employed by the government at
Washingt,on, D. C. He has since married at Baltimore and
res’ides ‘there and carries on his work for the government
at Washington.. He wishes to vote in Texas.
“There was given me no information as to whether he had
ever voted, and I am taking it for granted that he has
not.
“As it occurs to me, the question would be: Can a
married man living in Baltimore and working for the -
government at Washington claim a residence in Texas and
be allowed to vote there? ”
The Texas Constitution, Article 6, Section 2, provides in part
as follows:
“Every per ‘son subject to none of the foregoing disquali-
f icat ions, who shall have attained the age of 21 years and ‘:
who shall be a cit’ieen of the United States,and who shall
have resided in this State one year next preceding the
election and the last six months within the district or
county in which such person offers to vote, shall be
deemed a qualified elector....”
Honorable L. R. Thompson, June 8, 1939, Page 2, O-839
Article 2955, R.C.S. contains the exact wording as that set out
above in the Constitution.
Article 2958, R.C.S. deffnes the term “residence” as applicable
to voting requirements and provides in part:
“The cresidencel of a single man is where he
usually sleeps at night; that of a married man is
where his wife resides, or if he be permanently
separated from his wife, his residence is where he
sleeps at night; provided that the residence of one
who is an inmate or officer of a public asylum or
eleemosynary institute, or who is employed as a clerk
in one of the departments of the government at the
capitol of this State, or who is a student of a college
or university, unless such officer, clerk, inmate or
student has become a bona fide resident citizen in the
county where he is employed, or is such student, shall
be construed to be where his home was before he became
such inmate or officer in such eleemosynary institute
or asylum or was employed as such clerk or became such
student;....”
While it is true the courts say that residence is determined
largely as a question of intention of the voter (Marsden v. Troy,
189 SW 960; Huff v. Duffield, 251 SW 298; Devereaux v. Rowe, 293
SW 2O7), where the facts or the expressed or implied intention
show that a voter has left his former residence,and moved to a
new residence with the intention of, remaining there; he loses
his former residence for votin purposes. In the case of
Stratton v. Hall, 90 SW (2d) S&5, it is held that mere declara-
tions of the voter are not controlling if the actual facts justify
a contrary conclusion.
Each case must be construed in the light of its fact situation.
Unless there is some evidence other than reflected by your state-
ment, it is our opinion the person mentioned cannot be classed as
a resident of Texas for voting purposes;
Your question as stated is therefore answered in the negative,
based upon the authorities cited.
Yours very truly
ATTORNEYGENERALOF TEXAS
s/ Benjamin Woodall
BW:AM ,.. *
APPROVED: BY Ben jamin Woodal 1
Gerald C. Mann Assistant
ATTORNEYGENERALOF TEXAS
APPROVED: Opinion Committee, By HQB, Chairman