From David Catanese:
Lugar ruled ineligible to vote
Sen. Dick Lugar has been ruled ineligible to vote in Indiana by a county election board.
The partisan vote by the Marion County Election Board was 2-1.
The Indianapolis Star has the alert.
The commission ruled that the six-term senator was guilty of a non-criminal election violation and that he has abandoned his residency in Indianapolis.
In order to register to vote in the primary, Lugar will need to establish a new residency by April 9, according to a Republican operative tracking the case.
UPDATED @ 3:09 PM: Lugar's primary opponent Richard Mourdock issued a sharp response to the ruling, revisiting whether his lack of residency permits him to run for office.
“The fact that Senator Lugar hired a team of high-priced lawyers to fight for his right to use a legal technicality so that he doesn’t have to live among Hoosiers just proves our point about how out of touch he is," said spokesman Christopher Conner. ““Our position on this issue has always been clear: regardless of how he is registered to vote, the U.S. Constitution requires Senator Lugar to be an 'inhabitant' of the state to be elected. Currently, he is not."
Lugar's campaign called the the decision a partisan "outrage," noting that the Marion County Election Board is controlled by Democrats.
"Since Senator Lugar took office, he and Mrs. Lugar have scrupulously complied with Indiana law, which preserves the residency of Hoosiers serving their state and country outside of Indiana. The Lugars have also sought and followed the express direction of every legitimate government authority to have addressed the question," said Lugar spokesman Any Fisher. "It is an outrage that Indiana Democrats and Treasurer Mourdock's camp are happy to waste taxpayer money in tying up the courts. They apparently don't see any path to victory at the ballot box, so they keep maneuvering in hopes they can avoid competing head-on with Senator Lugar."
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