May 4, 1984

Mr. Kenneth R. Dewell 
Fall River County State's Attorney 
112 North Chicago Street 
Hot Springs, South Dakota 57747

OFFICIAL OPINION NO. 84-19

Voting residency requirements

Dear Mr. Dewell:

You have requested an official opinion from this office on the following questions:

QUESTIONS: 

Can an individual who has a place of business, within the corporate limits of a municipality, but who has no place of residence located at that business, be permitted to register and vote as a resident, declaring their place of business as their residence? 

Can an individual who has a place of business, within the corporate limits of a municipality, and which place of business has a one-room apartment, be permitted to register and vote as though they were residents of that municipality when, in fact, they have an ordinarily recognized place of residence outside the corporate limits of said municipality? 

Can an individual who for employment purposes is required to layover in a community within Fall River County, South Dakota, but whose point of origin for work purposes and whose place of residence is in another state be permitted to register and vote as a resident of the State of South Dakota?

SDCL § 12-4-1 provides: 

Every person residing within the state who has the qualifications of a voter prescribed by §  12-3-1 or §  12-3.1-1, or who will have such qualifications at the next ensuing municipal, primary, general, or school district election, shall be entitled to be registered as a voter in the precinct in which he resides. (Emphasis added.)

SDCL § 12-3-1 provides: 

Every person resident of this state who shall be of the age of eighteen years and upwards, not otherwise disqualified, who shall have complied with the provisions of law relating to the registration of voters shall be entitled to vote at any election in this state.  (Emphasis added.)

SDCL § 12-1-4 provides: 

For the purposes of this title, 'residence' shall be the place in which a person has fixed his habitation and to which, whenever he is absent, he has the intention of returning. 

A person who has left his home and gone into another state or territory or court of this state for a temporary purpose only shall not be considered to have lost his residence. 

A person shall be considered to have gained a residence in any county or city of this state in which he actually lives, providing such person has no present intention to remove himself therefrom. 

If a person moves to another state, or to any of the territories, with the intention of making it his permanent home, he shall be considered to have lost his residence in this state.

In view of the foregoing statutes, it is my opinion that, in each of your three factual situations, the individual, in question, does not have sufficient residency status to permit registration for voting purposes.

Therefore, the answer to each of your three questions in NO.

Respectfully submitted,

Mark V. Meierhenry
Attorney General