Moffett v. Hill

Citations

• 131 Ill. 239
• 22 N.E. 821

Syllabus

<p>1. Elections—residence of voter—what constitutes—absence—abandonment, etc. A permanent abode, in the sense of the statute in regard to elections, means nothing more than a domicile—a home—which the party is at liberty to leave temporarily, as interest or whim may dictate. It is not required that the elector shall continuously remain at his residence, and his absence may be long or short, or for definite or indefinite periods, and he does not thereby necessarily lose his residence or his right to vote.</p> <p>2. So an absence for months, or even years, if all the while the party intended it as a mere temporary purpose, to be followed by a resumption of the former residence, will not be an abandonment of such residence.</p> <p>3. But the domicile of a person in another State, having been once acquired, will be presumed to continue, unless it affirmatively appears it has been changed. In order to work such change there must be, both in fact and in intention, an abandonment of the former residence, and a new domicile acquired by actual residence, coupled with an intention to make it a permanent home.</p> <p>4. Same—the particular case. A resident voter of this State in 1880 went to the State of Kansas, and there pre-empted a tract of land, residing on the land for two years, and while there made oath that for two years his home and actual residence were on the pre-empted tract of land. In 1882 he returned to this State, but made several statements showing his intention of returning to Kansas when he should acquire the necessary means to do so : Held, that these facts showed that the voter in 1880 abandoned his prior domicile here, and for fully two years had his home and domicile on his land in Kansas, and that his return here was only for a temporary purpose.</p> <p>5. The same person, after having acquired a domicile in the State of Kansas, returned to his former home in this State in 1882, at first for a temporary purpose; but he voted here, without objection, at