Interesting story out of the Washington Blade about Bishop Harry Jackson, the leading voice among black conservatives against gay marriage.
You may recall that Jackson, whose Hope Christian Church is located in suburban Prince George’s County, Md., led the fight to stop D.C. officials from recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states and countries. (He lost.) Jackson always claimed to live in Washington — making him eligible to challenge the D.C. law in question — but everyone always sort of thought he lived in Maryland.
When Jackson claimed an address at a downtown condo, people starting scratching their heads. No one in the building had seen him there, and it turns out he didn’t register to vote as a D.C. resident until April 22, just around the time he launched his challenge to the same-sex marriage law.
Now the D.C. Board of Elections is threatening to revoke his voter registration after gay activists claimed he didn’t — and never really did — live in the city. From the Blade’s story:
In a June 30 letter, the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics informed Rev. Harry Jackson that District residents Cary Silverman and Martin Moulton filed a challenge to his claim to be a city resident. The letter, written by Karen F. Brooks, the election board’s registrar of voters, says the board will revoke Jackson’s D.C. voter registration unless he responds to the challenge within 30 days by submitting evidence confirming that he lives in the city.
“Please be advised that under D.C. Code 1-1001.14(a), an applicant violating applicable voter registration procedures shall be subjected to the same criminal sanctions for fraudulently attempting to register to vote that apply to all applicants,” Brooks stated in her letter to Jackson.
Her letter was sent to an apartment at the Whitman Condominium at 910 M St., N.W., that Jackson declared as his residence when he registered to vote in D.C. on April 22, 2009. Sources familiar with the Whitman say Jackson informed the building’s management that he moved out of the building two weeks ago.
