State law required Fullwood, a Democrat, to be a resident of House District 15 by Election Day. He said he was, but publicly acknowledged voting in a precinct outside the district on Nov. 2 — something that could be a third-degree felony.

His case brings the residency issue front and center for Jacksonville voters yet again. In 2008, a Jacksonville judge nullified the election of City Councilman Jay Jabour on the grounds that he failed to meet residency requirements when he ran for office in 2007. But that only happened because a defeated candidate — Democrat Bob Harms — pursued the issue in court. Similar complaints about former Duval County School Board member Brenda Priestly Jackson were brushed aside and never investigated. And hers wasn’t the only one.

“I know it happens,” Duval County Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland said. “If you come in and say 'I live in the district,’ we take you at your word.”

In 2004, Connie Mack IV moved across the state, leaving the Fort Lauderdale district he had represented in the Legislature for three years. Once he was safely ensconced in a conservative Fort Myers district, Mack won his Dad’s old congressional seat in a landslide.

And, of course, John Thrasher moved from Orange Park to St. Augustine to seek Jim King’s Senate seat.

But Mack and Thrasher, both Republicans, followed the rules. By voting in an old precinct, Fullwood raised legitimate doubts about whether he even met the residency requirements.

In an age when public distrust of government is at an all-time high, voters should at least have confidence that a candidate can at least be honest when he files paperwork to run.

If Fullwood failed to meet that most elementary of expectations, he has no business representing voters in Tallahassee.

http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/403455/abel-harding/2010-12-07...