June 8, 1939 

Honorable .L. R. Thompson 

County Auditor 

Taylor County 

Abilene, Texas 

Dear Sir: Opinion No. 0~839 

Re: Can a married man living 

in Baltimore, working 

for the government at 

Wash’ington claim 

residence in Texas and 

vote there? 

This is to acknowledge receipt ‘of your letter of May 18th 

requesting our opinion based on the following statembnt: 

‘A man whose mother lives here and who lived here prior 

to ,his majority is now employed by the government at 

Washingt,on, D. C. He has since married at Baltimore and 

res’ides ‘there and carries on his work for the government 

at Washington.. He wishes to vote in Texas. 

“There was given me no information as to whether he had 

ever voted, and I am taking it for granted that he has 

not. 

“As it occurs to me, the question would be: Can a 

married man living in Baltimore and working for the - 

government at Washington claim a residence in Texas and 

be allowed to vote there? ” 

The Texas Constitution, Article 6, Section 2, provides in part 

as follows: 

“Every per ‘son subject to none of the foregoing disqualif icat ions, who shall have attained the age of 21 years and ‘: 

who shall be a cit’ieen of the United States,and who shall 

have resided in this State one year next preceding the 

election and the last six months within the district or 

county in which such person offers to vote, shall be 

deemed a qualified elector....” 
Honorable L. R. Thompson, June 8, 1939, Page 2, O-839 

Article 2955, R.C.S. contains the exact wording as that set out 

above in the Constitution. 

Article 2958, R.C.S. deffnes the term “residence” as applicable 

to voting requirements and provides in part: 

“The cresidencel of a single man is where he 

usually sleeps at night; that of a married man is 

where his wife resides, or if he be permanently 

separated from his wife, his residence is where he 

sleeps at night; provided that the residence of one 

who is an inmate or officer of a public asylum or 

eleemosynary institute, or who is employed as a clerk 

in one of the departments of the government at the 

capitol of this State, or who is a student of a college 

or university, unless such officer, clerk, inmate or 

student has become a bona fide resident citizen in the 

county where he is employed, or is such student, shall 

be construed to be where his home was before he became 

such inmate or officer in such eleemosynary institute 

or asylum or was employed as such clerk or became such 

student;....” 

While it is true the courts say that residence is determined 

largely as a question of intention of the voter (Marsden v. Troy, 

189 SW 960; Huff v. Duffield, 251 SW 298; Devereaux v. Rowe, 293 

SW 2O7), where the facts or the expressed or implied intention 

show that a voter has left his former residence,and moved to a 

new residence with the intention of, remaining there; he loses 

his former residence for votin purposes. In the case of 

Stratton v. Hall, 90 SW (2d) S&5, it is held that mere declarations of the voter are not controlling if the actual facts justify 

a contrary conclusion. 

Each case must be construed in the light of its fact situation. 

Unless there is some evidence other than reflected by your statement, it is our opinion the person mentioned cannot be classed as 

a resident of Texas for voting purposes; 

Your question as stated is therefore answered in the negative, 

based upon the authorities cited. 

Yours very truly 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

s/ Benjamin Woodall 

BW:AM ,.. * 

APPROVED : BY Ben jamin Woodal 1 

Gerald C. Mann Assistant 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

APPROVED: Opinion Committee, By HQB, Chairman