Dick Lugar To Stay On Indiana Ballot, Despite Virginia Residence

Indiana Sen. Dick Lugar (R) will remain on the ballot there in spite of having lived in Virginia for the last 35 years, a state elections board decided Friday.

The board apparently agreed with the assessment of state Attorney General Greg Zoeller, who wrote recently that elected officials who move out of state to do their jobs do not give up their Hoosier residence in the process.

From the Lugar campaign:

INDIANAPOLIS (Feb. 24, 2012) - The bipartisan Indiana Election Commission today upheld Sen. Dick Lugar's candidacy on the 2012 ballot.

Members voted 4-0 to reject a challenge of Lugar's residency.

Both Indiana's Constitution and laws maintain a Hoosier's residency while away on official duties of either the state or United States.

Three Indiana Attorneys General - including current AG Greg Zoeller - have concluded Lugar's residency remains valid during his service to Indiana in the U.S. Senate.

"Democrat (commission member) Tony Long said later that if he was going to err, it would be on the side of keeping someone on the ballot," the Indianapolis Star reported. "Lugar, he said, has been a good representative of the state and tried to do the right thing by seeking attorney general opinions on whether his Indiana residency was affected.... Attorneys General Linley Pearson in 1982 and Greg Zoeller now have both said he did not lose residency."