Non-Residents: Can You Vote in the Plan A/B Referendum?

The better question is do you want to? And if so, are you willing to work for it?

Despite what the city has led you to believe, you can vote. See the below “Factoids”.

Additionally, there is presently a class-action lawsuit that is seeking tax relief for non-residents. Click here for the lawsuit/details. While this lawsuit does not directly address the question of voting, it does address the issue of disparate taxation for resident and non-resident property owners. Again, for those wanting to actually doing something about taxation without representation on Marco Island, this lawsuit gives you the blueprint of what to do.

If you chose to do nothing (writing letters to the present governance is doing nothing), then you have nothing to complain about when you are assessed more taxes without having voted.

Factoids: Factoids: Factoids: Factoids:

Fs. 97.041 Qualifications to register or vote.--
(1)(a) A person may become a registered voter only if that person:
1. Is at least 18 years of age;
2. Is a citizen of the United States;
3. Is a legal resident of the State of Florida;
4. Is a legal resident of the county in which that person seeks to be registered; and
5. Registers pursuant to the Florida Election Code.

Fs. 97.041
(5)(a) A voter registration application is complete if it contains the following information necessary to establish the applicant's eligibility pursuant to s. 97.041, including:
1. The applicant's name.
2. The applicant's legal residence address.
3. The applicant's date of birth.
4. A mark in the checkbox affirming that the applicant is a citizen of the United States.
5.a. The applicant's current and valid Florida driver's license number or the identification number from a Florida identification card issued under s. 322.051, or
b. If the applicant has not been issued a current and valid Florida driver's license or a Florida identification card, the last four digits of the applicant's social security number.

FS. 196.012
(17) "Permanent resident" means a person who has established a permanent residence as defined in subsection (18).
(18) "Permanent residence" means that place where a person has his or her true, fixed, and permanent home and principal establishment to which, whenever absent, he or she has the intention of returning. A person may have only one permanent residence at a time; and, once a permanent residence is established in a foreign state or country, it is presumed to continue until the person shows that a change has occurred.

Legal Opinion
"Legal residence" refers to a person's permanent domicile, as distinguished from a temporary residence. “Domicile” is defined as that place where a person has his or her fixed, permanently place of abode, to which the person intends to return despite temporary residences elsewhere or temporary absences.

Another Legal Opinion
Not all retirees who own homes in New York and Florida are eligible to elect Florida as their domicile. Domicile is characterized in the New York tax regulations as the place that an individual intends to be his permanent home and the place to which he intends to return whenever he may be absent. The regulations provide that, once established, a domicile continues until the person moves to a new location with the bona fide intention of making his fixed and permanent home there. A person’s declarations are given due weight, but they will not be conclusive if they are contradicted by conduct. For example, the regulations state that registering and voting in one place is important but not necessarily conclusive. Likewise, the length of time customarily spent at each location is important but not conclusive.
A person can have only one domicile. If an individual has two or more homes, the domicile is the one regarded and used as the permanent home.

Another Legal Opinion:
Everybody that is a non-homesteader for at least one month can VOTE IN FLORIDA. NO RESTRICTIONS. So get out their and register. Then vote against the politicians that are voting against us!!!!!!!!!!