Constitutional Crisis
A new twist has arisen in legal melodrama that is this year's presidential election, and it could make things quite a bit more interesting. A Florida attorney has filed a lawsuit claiming that Gov. George W. Bush and vice-presidential candidate Dick Cheney can't legally win Texas' 32 electoral votes. And losing Texas would probably seal a victory for Vice President Al Gore.
Lawrence Caplan filed the suit on Monday, claiming that the Bush/Cheney victory in Texas violates the 12th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, since state electors are prohibited from voting for presidential and vice-presidential candidates who are both inhabitants of their state. The exact wording of the Amendment is: "The electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves...."
The question is whether or not Dick Cheney is an inhabitant of Texas or Wyoming. Back when the campaign was getting underway in July, Cheney switched his voter registration to Wyoming, evidently to avoid just this type of constitutional challenge to his candidacy. Caplan's complaint, however, argues that being a registered voter in a state is not enough to constitute habitation.
The language of the residency requirement for voter registration in Wyoming is that a person must "be an actual and physically bona fide resident of Wyoming." Caplan, however, argues that there is a critical distinction between being a resident and being an inhabitant. Since there are two different words, there must be two different concepts, right?
According to the text of Caplan's suit, Black's Law dictionary defines inhabitant as "one who resides actually and permanently in a given place and has his domicile there." The lawsuit also claims that there is legal precedent to the idea that a resident is not the same as an inhabitant. In fact, the word "inhabitant," according to case law, assumes "a more fixed and permanent abode ... imparting privileges and duties to which a mere resident would not be subject." Maybe being in the Bush good ol' boy network, or running one of the wealthiest corporations in Texas would qualify as a privilege that mere residents would not have access to.
Cheney has his primary home here in Texas, and his last employment was with Halliburton Corp., which is based in Dallas. All his tax returns call him a Texan, and he has a valid Texas driver's license. He also voted as a Texas resident in the last eight election cycles, up to this one. Come on, folks, Dick Cheney is as Texan as the Family Bush.
Whether or not Cheney keeps an apartment in Wyoming somewhere to qualify as a resident, the fact of the matter is that he pulled a stunt to avoid a constitutional hurdle. In typical Republican fashion, Bush and Cheney hoped to slip one by under the radar, and they almost succeeded. When Cheney switched to Wyoming voter registration last summer, nobody really made a big deal out of it. But now, with all the attention in the country focused on the excruciating minutia of the legality of the election, this has the potential to become a very real issue.
There is no good reason to dismiss the claim out of hand just because it's a little off the wall. In America, we have laws. The laws are in place to protect the people. The president is bound by the Constitution to uphold and execute those laws, and Bush wants to be the next president. If he wants to be a good one, he and Cheney should give this little glitch some strict attention.
Because there is a difference between squeezing into the Oval Office by a couple of votes and bulldozing in by pulling a fast one on the American people.
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