People v. Superior Court

Elections Code* 1 section 2026 provides, “The domicile of a Member of the Legislature . . . shall be conclusively presumed to be at the residence address indicated on that person’s currently filed affidavit of [voter] registration.” The statute was enacted to allow elected officials to obtain a residence near Sacramento yet maintain, for voting purposes, their home district residence as their domicile. The question before us is whether this conclusive presumption applies even if the address listed on the affidavit of registration is not one of the legislator’s legal residences. We conclude it does not and grant the People’s petition for writ of mandate.

I. BACKGROUND

On March 14, 2007, real party in interest, Roderick Wright, filed a voter registration form in which he declared under penalty of pequry that he “liv[ed]” in one of five units at an apartment complex on Glenway Drive in the City of Inglewood. The property was in the 25th Senatorial District (the *514 District). In November 2008, Wright was elected as the state senator to represent the District. Thereafter, he cast votes in the District on two occasions—May 19 and September 1, 2009.

There was substantial…