MANASSAS, Va. -- A Texas state senator who used to live in Manassas voted twice in the November 2004 general election, according to voter registration records.
The senator, Brian Douglas Birdwell, R-Granbury, took over the District 22 seat in June following a special election. But if voting records hold true, his position may be in jeopardy.
General registrar for Prince William County, Betty Weimer, confirmed Thursday that voting records show Birdwell voted in the Nov. 2, 2004 general election as a resident of Manassas. But Pam Flow, voter registration clerk for Tarrant County, Texas, confirmed Birdwell voted as a resident of that county in the Nov. 2, 2004 general election, also.
A telephone call to Birdwell's Granbury campaign office, followed by an e-mail to his listed address that contained detailed questions, were not returned.
In a report by the Texas Tribune published July 28, however, Birdwell denied double-voting.
"I have never, ever voted twice in the same election," the reporter, Ross Ramsey, quotes Birdwell as stating. "Basically, this news story would have people believe that on Election Day in 2004, I voted in Virginia, then got on a plane and flew to Texas so I could cast a second vote for George W. Bush. I did not."
Voting records from Weimer's office also show that Birdwell voted in the Nov. 7, 2006 general election as a resident of Gholson Bridge Court, Manassas. Claiming residency in 2006 in a state other than Texas would have rendered Birdwell ineligible to seek his current senate seat, however.
A spokeswoman with the Texas Secretary of State's Division of Elections said in a Thursday telephone interview that state law requires senate candidates to live in Texas for the five years prior to their election.
One of the questions posed to Birdwell in the e-mail asked for explanation about his recorded 2006 Virginia residency, as it would seem to disqualify him from seeking the senate seat. He did not respond.
Also according to voting records confirmed by Weimer and Flow: As a resident of Gholson Bridge Court in Manassas, Birdwell voted in the June 14, 2005 Republican primary and the Nov. 8, 2005, general election. As a resident of Tarrant County, Texas, Birdwell voted in the Nov. 3, 1998 general election; the March 14, 2000 primary election; the April 11,2000 primary runoff election; the May 6, 2000 city of Ft. Worth election; the Nov. 7, 2000 general election and the Nov. 5, 2002 general election.
Staff writer Cheryl Chumley can be reached at 703-530-3903.
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