"Residence" is where one lives. While living in a hotel is perfectly fine for having a residence in Indana to qualify to serve as U.S. Senator, the problem is the voting. You still can't vote from someplace you don't reside. If you're residing in a hotel, that hotel's precinct is where you have to vote.
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| Indiana Senator Richard Lugar |
That's been listed as his residence ever since and is still currently listed as his residence on voter registration records. That's not a mistake. If you google that address you will find that Lugar often lists that it as his residence in Indianapolis.
But does he own the house on Highwoods Court? Does he actually reside there to qualify to vote in that precinct as he's been doing for apparently the last 41 years? I went to the County Assessor's Office. That house at 3200 Highwoods Court is shown as being built in 1969 and is listed as being owned by Elizabeth Hughes. The county recorder's office shows it quitclaimed from David Hughes to Elizabeth in 2003. The County Recorder's Office shows the property as being deeded from a family named Gootee to the Hughes couple in 1989. It wasn't clear who deeded the property to the Gootees as those are paper records buried in the Recorder's Office that would take hours to search. It is safe to speculate the the Lugars did own the property in 1969 and deeded it away to the Gootees or to someone else and the property was eventually deeded to the Gootees.
According to information obtained from a source with access to the Voter Vault, Richard and Char Lugar are registered at 3200 Highwoods, but so too is David Hughes, Elizabeth Hughes and Joseph Hughes.
The house is located just off of Kessler Avenue, just south of 38th Street on the NW side. I went and looked at it. The houses in the neighborhood are average ranch style homes, running from $98K to $138K according to valuation sources on the Internet. In an average middle-class neighborhood, the somewhat isolated two story home is the best in the area with an estimated value of $216,000. Information on line says it is 4,000 square feet plus, with four bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths. While in 1969 the area was undoubtedly very nice, since the crime and decline of nearby areas have undoubtedly dragged down this neighborhood.
While admittedly it is possible that I overlooked something, I could not find any records showing Sen. Richard Lugar owns the home at 3200 Highwoods Court. Of course, one doesn't have to own the property...he or she only has to reside at the property listed in the voting registration records in order to vote using that address. Still, after my research, I have substantial doubt that Lugar lives in the 3200 Highwoods home now or has for many, many years. I'll leave it up though to the investigative reporters to look further into this matter if they so choose.
UPDATE: Usually Lugar votes absentee. In the 10 elections that took place between 2006 and 2010, Lugar voted in person only three times, the 2006 General Election (when he was up for re-election) and the 2008 primary and general elections.
NOTE: For those of you asking, Lugar has never listed his Decatur Township farm as his residence. I have added a link to Lugar's registration record above. Also, I origally referred to Lugar's aide as "Mark Lubbers" when I meant "Mark Helmke." That has been corrected.