Agenda - Council Work Session - 03/22/2011

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Minn, Stat, § 200.031; Bell v. Gannaway, 303 Minn. 346, 350, 227 N.W.2d 797, 801 (Minn. 1975). Minn. Stat. § 200.031, CHAPTER 5 A. Definition of residence Legal residence for voting largely depends on the voter's intent, but the determination in each instance will depend heavily on the particular facts. No general rules uniformly resolve residency questions even though the statutes provide guidance. Generally speaking, if someone challenges an individual's right to vote, and the individual's answers apparently entitle him or her to vote, that individual must be allowed to vote, subject to any voter- registration requirements. Fundamentally, residence is that place where an individual habitually resides, receives mail, and otherwise considers it an official residence and permanent home. State law provides that residence must be determined in accordance with the following principles, so far as they may apply to the facts of the situation: • the residence of an individual is in the precinct where the individual's home is located, from which the individual has no present intention of moving, and to which, whenever the individual is absent, the individual intends to return; • an individual does not lose residence if the individual leaves home to live temporarily in another state or precinct; • an individual does not acquire a residence in any precinct of this state if the individual is living there only temporarily, without the intention of making that precinct home; ® if an individual goes into another state or precinct with the intention of making it home or files an affidavit of residence there for election purposes, the individual loses residence in the former precinct; • if an individual moves to another state with the intention of living there for an indefinite period, the individual loses residence in this state, notwithstanding any intention to return at some indefinite future time; • except as otherwise provided by law, an individual's residence is located in the precinct where the individual's family lives, unless the individual's family is living in that precinct only temporarily; • if an individual's family lives in one precinct and the individual lives or does business in another, the individual's residence is located in the precinct where the individual's family lives, unless the individual establishes a home in the other precinct and intends to remain there, with or without the individual's family; • the residence of a single individual is in the precinct where the individual lives and usually sleeps; • the mere intention to acquire a new residence, is not sufficient to acquire a new residence, unless the individual moves to that location; moving to a new location is not sufficient to acquire a new residence unless the individual intends to remain there; 5:4 This chapter last revised 12/2010 LEAGUE OF MINNESOTA CfFIES