Canyon County, Idaho
1.
Patti
Anne Lodge willingly made her Sunnyslope residence unlivable before
redistricting was finalized by donating it. However, there is no record of
permits to move it or place it in residence someplace else in the county
Development Services Department records.
2.
Patti
Anne Lodge no longer had a residence at 18500 Symms Rd to reside in, thus was
no longer an elector of Precinct 32, District 11. According to Idaho State Code
(ISC) 34-107. "Residence" defined. (1) "Residence," for
voting purposes, shall be the principal or primary home or place of abode
of a person. Black’s Law Dictionary defines abode as legal residence and legal
residence as the place a person spends most of his time and is the home
that is recognized by law.
3.
Yet,
Patti Anne Lodge claimed her Sunnyslope property as her residence on her
declaration of candidacy and in documentation to the Idaho Secretary of State
and the Canyon County Clerk to run as District 11 Senator and Precinct 32
Committeewoman.
4.
While
she does own another house inside legislative district 11 under her Windridge
LLC at 21251 Homedale Rd Caldwell, she purposefully chose to live outside her
legislative district in her house on 703 E. Logan in District 10 that her
husband, Federal Judge Edward Lodge inherited and remodeled recently. She chose
not to rent any place within her district for a residence, live at her Homedale
residence nor move in a temporary residence at 18500 Symms Rd.
5.
The lack of construction permits or applications for building permits demonstrates that Patti Anne Lodge has made
no conscious effort to reclaim Sunnyslope as a residence. Furthermore, placing
a mobile home on the property was only offered after the Press-Tribune exposed
Senator Lodge was not living in the district she was elected to represent.
6.
Patti
Anne Lodge lived outside legislative district 11 for at least 13 months before
the 2012 election per proof in fact #1.
a. ISC
18-2301. Official neglect or malfeasance. Every person charged with the
performance of any duty, under the provisions of any law of this state relating
to elections, who wilfully neglects or refuses to perform it, or who, in his
official capacity, knowingly and fraudulently acts in contravention or
violation of any of the provisions of such laws, is, unless a different
punishment for such acts or omissions is prescribed by this Code, punishable by
fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in the
state prison not exceeding five (5) years, or by both and shall in addition
thereto, and regardless of whether or not criminal prosecution is undertaken,
be subject to removal from office as provided in title 19, chapter 41, Idaho Code.
b.
ISC 18-2302. False swearing as to
qualifications as voter. Every person who, upon his right to vote being challenged at any
election held under the laws of this state, willfully, corruptly and falsely
swears touching his qualifications as a voter, is guilty of perjury.
c.
ISC
18-2304. Procuring illegal votes. Every person who procures, aids,
assists, counsels or advises another to give or offer his vote at any election,
knowing that the person is not qualified to vote, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
d.
ISC 18-2322.
Illegal registration by voter. Any person who shall willfully cause, or endeavor to cause, his
name to be registered in any other election district than that in which
he resides, or will reside prior to the day of the next ensuing
election, except as herein otherwise provided, and any person who shall
cause, or endeavor to cause, his name to be registered, knowing that he is not
a qualified elector, and will not be a qualified elector on or before the day
of the next ensuing election, in the election district in which he causes or
endeavors to cause such registry to be made, and any person who shall induce,
aid or abet anyone in the commission of either of the acts in this section
enumerated and described, shall be fined not less than fifty dollars ($50.00)
nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or be confined in the county jail for
not less than one (1) month nor more than six (6) months, or both.
e. ISC 34-107 can be justified by the State Constitution under Article VI,
section 5 (Residences for voting purposes not lost or gained).
f. ISC 34-413. Reregistration of elector
who changes residence. An elector who moves to another county within the
state or to another state within thirty (30) days prior to any election shall
be permitted to vote in the ensuing election by absentee ballot. Obviously,
Patti Anne Lodge was twelve months outside of this contingency.
g.
ISC 34-614. Election of state representatives and senators --
Qualifications. (2) No person shall be elected to the office of
representative or senator unless he shall have attained the age of twenty-one
(21) years at the time of the general election, is a citizen of the United
States and shall have resided within the
legislative district one (1) year next preceding the general election at which
he offers his candidacy.
h. ISC
34-624. Election of precinct committeemen --
Qualifications. (2) No person shall be elected to the office of
precinct committeeman unless he has attained the age of eighteen (18) years at
the time of his election, is a citizen of the United States, a registered elector of and shall have
resided within the voting precinct for a period of six (6) months next
preceding his election.
i.
ISC 34-2101. Grounds of contest. The election of any person to any
legislative or state executive office may be contested:
2. When
the incumbent was not eligible to the office at the time of the election;
4. When the
incumbent
has given or offered to any elector, or any judge, clerk, or canvasser of the
election, any bribe or reward in money or property, for the purpose of
procuring his election, or has committed
any violation as set out in chapter 23, title 18, Idaho
Code;
j.
ISC 6-602. Actions for usurpation of
office. An action
may be brought in the name of the people
of the state against any person who
usurps, intrudes into, holds or
exercises any office or franchise, real or pretended, within this state, without authority of law. Such action
shall be brought by the prosecuting attorney of the proper county, when the
office or franchise relates to a county, precinct or city, and when such office
or franchise relates to the state, by
the attorney general; and it shall be the duty of the proper officer, upon
proper showing, to bring such action whenever he has reason to believe that any
such office or franchise has been usurped, intruded into, held or exercised
without authority of law. Any person rightfully entitled to an office or
franchise may bring an action in his own name against the person who has
usurped, intruded into, or who holds or exercises the same.
k.
Article IV, Section 8 of the Idaho GOP Rules state, The County
Central Committee shall appoint by election to fill all vacancies that occur or
exist in the offices of Precinct Committeemen. Candidates shall be qualified electors of the precinct.
l.
Article III, Section 2 of the Canyon County By-Laws state, Qualifications: All members of the County
Central Committee shall be qualified electors of the precinct in which they
reside (ISC 34-402/104)
7. Article III, section 6 of the
Idaho Constitution states, “No person shall be a senator or representative who,
at the time of his election, is not a citizen of the United States, and an
elector of this state, nor anyone who has not been for one
year next preceding his election an elector of the county or district whence he
may be chosen.” Article III, section 11, states, Expulsion of members. Each house may, for good cause
shown, with the concurrence of two-thirds of all the members, expel a member.
8. Verbal inquiries involving
the Sunnyslope property and Patti Anne Lodge not living in her legislative
district were made early on by several people during the campaign season. Maurice Clements chose to run a clean
campaign and stick to the issues at hand, while hoping for Patti Anne Lodge to
do the honorable thing.
9. The Canyon County Assessor's
Office took away Patti Anne Lodge’s homeowner's exemption for 18500 Symms
Rd. According to ISC 63-602G. PROPERTY EXEMPT FROM TAXATION -- HOMESTEAD. (2) The
exemption allowed by this section may be granted only if: (a) The homestead is owner-occupied and
used as the primary dwelling place of the owner as of January 1, provided that
in the event the homestead is owner-occupied after January 1, but before April
15, the owner of the property is entitled to the exemption. The homestead
may consist of part of a multi-dwelling or multi-purpose building and shall
include all of such dwelling or building except any portion used exclusively
for anything other than the primary dwelling of the owner. 63-701. DEFINITIONS. As used in this chapter:
(2) "Homestead" means the dwelling,
owner-occupied by the claimant as described in this chapter
and used as the primary dwelling place of the claimant and may be
occupied by any members of the household as their home, and so much of the land
surrounding it, not exceeding one (1) acre, as is reasonably necessary for the
use of the dwelling as a home. It may consist of a part of a multi-dwelling
or multi-purpose building and part of
the land upon which it is built. "Homestead" does not include
personal property such as furniture, furnishings or appliances, but a
manufactured home may be a homestead.
(6) "Occupied" means actual use and possession.
(8) (a) "Primary dwelling place" means the claimant's
dwelling place on January 1 or before
April 15 of the year for which the claim is made. The primary dwelling place
is the single place where a claimant has his true, fixed and permanent home and
principal establishment, and to which whenever the individual is absent he has
the intention of returning. A claimant must establish the dwelling to which the claim
relates to be his primary dwelling place by clear and convincing evidence or by
establishing that the dwelling is where the claimant resided on January 1 or
before April 15 and:
1.
(i) At least six (6) months during the prior year;
(Will attach
homeowner’s exemption information that was just received from the Canyon County
Assessor’s office.)
11. This did not trigger any
changes in the County Clerk’s office with respect to election status. However
according to the Canyon County Clerk’s website http://www.canyonco.org/Elected-Officials/Clerk/Clerk-Elections/FAQ-s.aspx
, it is the
responsibility of the citizen to re-register if they move either inside or out
of a county because a change of
precinct, district, county or city change will change the races that the
citizen can lawfully vote and/or run for. Voter registration is public
knowledge according to ISC 34-4.
12. Senate and House leadership usually
inform their respective legislators that temporarily live outside their
districts to immediately move back into their districts and give them a
deadline to do such. Matters of this nature sometimes occur with marital
problems and discretion is needed. Patti Anne Lodge is a senior legislator and
should have known better.
13. There has been intimidation for people
wishing to collect information and press the matter that Patti Anne Lodge is
not living within her district. Furthermore, the fear of retaliation is real.
Governor Otter campaigned for Patti Anne Lodge in her last primary race; she is
one of four people that have this honor. Patti Anne Lodge is married to an
active well-established federal judge as well; Ed Lodge's judicial district is
the entire state of Idaho.
14. The Canyon County and the Legislative
District 11 Republican Central Committees should pull Patti Anne Lodge's
position as a precinct committeeman that she was not qualified to run for.
However, they do not have the authority to cause Patti Anne Lodge to lose her
Senate position. The Idaho Senate has that responsibility.
Analysis
A. Canyon County Clerk, Chris Yamamoto is the chief election
officer of Canyon county. Ben Ysursa is the chief election officer of the state
of Idaho and would be a resource Mr. Yamamoto would rely upon in this
situation. The evidence shows that 18500 Symms is not Edward and Patti Anne
Lodge's residence. Given political pressure and the fact Secretary of State Ben
Ysursa has given his position on this matter, there are no assurances this
process will be handled in a just or fair way. ISC 18-2304. Procuring
illegal votes..
B. The lack of filing for a permit to demolish a house or a
permit to move a house that could have potentially triggered internal county
software involving election status shows either a disregard for county codes or
an intentional deception. Is there a procedure in place for the Canyon County
Assessor or Development Services Department to contact the County Clerk's
Office when a candidates homeowner's exemption is revoked or a residence is no
longer inhabitable? However, it is the responsibility of the candidate/citizen
to NOT commit election and/or voter fraud. Officials in public trust
positions should avoid the very appearance of fraud, deception and corruption.
A senator that has served several terms has to know this by now!
C. The physical location of one's residence determines
voting status. Patti Anne Lodge has recently used a Huston PO Box address as
her mailing address; the mailing address has no bearing on the matter. If Patti
Anne Lodge had moved to the Homedale Rd property and amended the record, the
matter would have been moot with respect to her senate seat. However, she still
would have had to give up her precinct committeeman seat run or run for the
legal precinct in the Canyon County Republican party.
For example, in a neighboring county there is a legislator
with a mailing address in a nearby town just over his county's border. During
redistricting, the Idaho Statesman misreported the effects of some
redistricting plans when they used the mailing address instead of the physical
address.
D. The Secretary of State and Senate leadership has some
major explaining to do. Protocol would be Secretary of State Ben Ysursa
contacts the Senate Pro Tem (Senator Brent Hill) after being informed about the
residence problem. It would then be the job of the Senate Pro Tem and the
Majority Leader, Senator Bart Davis, to discuss matters with Senator Patti Anne
Lodge to bring her in compliance with state laws and the state constitution as
soon as possible. Did the following discussion occur and why or why not?
E. Senator Branden Durst recently resigned because he no
longer resided in his district.
F. Redistricting caused some major headaches in Bannock,
Bonner, Bonneville, Twin Falls, and, most importantly,
Canyon County when it came to drawing precinct and
legislative district lines. With respect to the county clerks, many of them had
major election-related work that overwhelmed their staff.
The October 2011 photograph proves there was no dwelling at
18500 Symms Road. This is more than a full year before the November 2012
general election and proves Patti Anne Lodge was not eligible to be on the
ballot using the Sunnyslope property as her residence, according to the state
constitution in Article III, section 6. Article III, section 2, part 5 would
define the boundaries used.
Furthermore, claiming this property as a residence for
election purposes constitutes fraud.
Filing deadlines for the May 2012 elections also made for
some interesting politics as well. Using her residence on
Logan, Patti Anne Lodge would have had to run against
Senator Jim Rice, the Governor’s recently appointed senator for district 10.
The incumbent Senator in district 11 was Melinda Smyser. Did Patti Anne Lodge
cost Melinda Smyser a state senate seat with an improper claiming of her
residence?
G. As the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary & Rules
committee, she would have been aware of the Bradbury case that went to the
Idaho Supreme Court. The court case is only a few years old. Judge Bradbury had
a primary residence in Lewiston and a secondary residence in Idaho county.
Judge Bradbury wished to save the state of Idaho some money and stay in his
second home when he had cases in Idaho county. The Idaho Supreme Court ruled
Judge Bradbury could not do this; Judge Bradbury had to either rent a motel
room and submit a bill or use his primary residence in Nez Perce county to stay
as an eligible judge for that county. A similar standard could be applied to
Patti Anne Lodge. At this point in time, it is the purview of the Idaho Senate
to determine consequences for Senator Patti Anne Lodge.
