(C) Minnesota Reformer
   This unaltered story was originally published on MinnesotaReformer.com [1]
   Licensed under Creative Commons License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 [2]
   ------------------

Senate holds hearing on political candidate residency questions after Rep. John Thompson controversy

By:   ['Ricardo Lopez', 'More From Author', '- October'], Minnesota Reformer
Date: 2021-10

A Senate committee on Thursday heard testimony about how candidates and lawmakers verify their addresses when they file for office, exploring a new law to prevent lawmakers from living outside of districts they represent.

State Sen. Mary Kiffmeyer, R-Big Lake, convened a hearing to review current law and processes for candidates who file for office.

The hearing comes a few months after state Rep. John Thompson, DFL-St. Paul, generated weeks of controversy after questions arose about whether he lives outside of his district following a July 4 traffic stop in St. Paul. The stop revealed Thompson had a Wisconsin driver’s license.

Thompson was recently expelled from the House DFL caucus after allegations of domestic abuse were unearthed after his traffic stop.

Election officials do not physically vet whether a candidate lives at the address they registered when they filed for office. Officials said they typically only verify that the address provided is within the district of the office a candidate is running for.

Minnesota Senate Counsel Alexis Stangl said that if there are questions about whether a candidate lives in their district, anyone can file a so-called errors and omissions petition with the state Supreme Court for a statewide or federal office or at a local district court for a local office.

The court would then review the matter in a hearing to determine if a candidate lives in the district. In 2016, for instance, the Supreme Court ruled that state Rep. Bob Barrett, a Republican who represented District 32B, did not live in the district and was ineligible for reelection.
[END]

[1] Url: https://minnesotareformer.com/briefs/senate-holds-hearing-on-political-candidate-residency-questions-after-rep-john-thompson-controversy/
[2] Url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/

Minnesota Reformer via Magical Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/MnReformer/

You are viewing proxied material from magical.fish. The copyright of proxied material belongs to its original authors. Any comments or complaints in relation to proxied material should be directed to the original authors of the content concerned. Please see the disclaimer for more details.