Was Council Tax Vote Illegal?
The controversy is continuing surrounding the residency of Indianapolis City-County Council Member Patrice Abdullah. Not only are local Democrats privately expressing concerns that Abdullah could be removed from the Council because his listed home address on the Council’s website is not in his district, but now the controversy has gotten the attention of the State of Indiana.
It is unclear what the outcome would be, however under Indiana law a candidate for membership on the county council of a county must: have resided in the county for at least one year before the election, as provided in Article 6, Section 4 of the Constitution of the State of Indiana; and have resided in the district in which seeking election, if applicable, for at least six (6) months before the election.
If the State finds Abdullah did not meet those requirements he could be removed from his seat. In addition, research is being conducted into whether Abdullah’s votes on the Council were valid. If they weren’t, a number of important votes such as the public safety tax increase could be in potential jeopardy because Abdullah did not legally reside in the district, when he voted.
