ATLANTA (AP) – Potential U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker’s wife voted in Georgia in November despite not identifying her Atlanta home as her primary residence for property tax purposes.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Julie Blanchard requested and returned a ballot for the Westlake, Texas presidential election. Blanchard also owns a house in Atlanta.
Walker is considering running for the Georgia Senate as a Republican. Walker, a longtime friend of former President Donald Trump, has joined Trump’s unproven claims that the 2020 elections were stolen by fraudulent votes.
“Play by the rules… ..the American people require that ONLY LEGAL VOTES be counted. Anyone rigging this election should be prosecuted, ”Walker wrote on Twitter in November.
Asking whether his wife voted correctly in Georgia could dismiss these claims against Walker.
The former University of Georgia and the Dallas Cowboys running back are encouraged by Trump to run for a seat in the U.S. Senate in 2022, which is now held by Democrat Raphael Warnock. A number of other Republicans are running, including State Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black, former bank director and Navy veteran Latham Saddler, and contractor Kelvin King.
“If we are residents in both places, is that legally wrong?” Blanchard told the newspaper on Monday. “If you have several apartments, can you not vote where you have a home?”
Blanchard and Walker were married in Texas in May, according to public records.
Blanchard told the newspaper Tuesday that she considers herself a resident of Georgia where she has a driver’s license, owns a car and does business. She didn’t answer a question about whether she spends more time in Georgia or Texas.
Prior to 2020, in Georgia, Blanchard had not voted since 2008. Her Georgia voter registration was canceled in 2017 due to inactivity and she re-registered in 2019. It is unclear if she was re-registered when she renewed her Georgia driver’s license. Drivers are automatically registered to vote in Georgia unless they specifically decline. The newspaper reports that Blanchard is not registered to vote in Texas.
Blanchard and Walker bought their Texas property in 2011, according to the deeds, and Tarrant County, Texas, according to public records, is granting homestead tax exemption – a property tax break for homeowners on their primary residence. However, only Walker and not Blanchard is listed on the current tax assessment.
One of the 15 rules used in Georgian law to determine where a voter lives for residency is when requesting exemption from homestead. In general, Georgian law states that a voter’s place of residence is where the person intends to live permanently, or where their “place of residence” is determined.
Georgia records show that Blanchard is currently not claiming leave for homesteads on their Fulton County property.