Seasonal Residents Properly Deemed “Residents” of a Town for Election Purposes

The Third Department, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Peters, determined that seasonal residents of a condominium were properly deemed “residents” of the town where the condominium is located for voting purposes under the Election Law. The court noted that, under the Election Law, a voter may have two residences and choose one of them for election purposes. The Election Law requires only that the voter have legitimate, significant and continuing attachments to the residence and there be no “aura of sham:”

The [County Election] Board’s determination upholding the voter registrations at issue constituted presumptive evidence of the … voters’ residence for voting purposes; thus, petitioner was saddled with the weighty burden of proffering sufficient evidence to overcome that presumption (see Election Law § 5-104 [2]…). The Election Law defines “residence” as “that place where a person maintains a fixed, permanent and principal home and to which he [or she], wherever temporarily located, always intends to return” (Election Law § 1-104 [22]…). As the courts of this state have repeatedly explained, the Election Law “does not preclude a person from having two residences and choosing one for election purposes provided he or she has ‘legitimate, significant and continuing attachments’ to that residence” … . “The crucial [factor in the] determination [of] whether a particular residence complies with the requirements of the Election Law is that the individual must manifest an intent, coupled with physical presence ‘without any aura of sham'” … . Matter of Maas v Gaebel, 2015 NY Slip Op 04353, 3rd Dept 5-21-15