Georgia officials are investigating whether pro-Trump attorney Lin Wood may have illegally cast a ballot in the Peach State, WSB-TV reported Tuesday evening.
The probe comes after Wood spent months attaching his name to litigation which claimed there was rampant voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. None of the lawsuits were successful.
The investigation into Wood is reportedly being handled by the Georgia Secretary of State’s office. It’s trying to figure out whether Wood “was eligible to vote in Georgia, whether he broke the law by casting his ballot and whether he was actually a Georgia resident,” WSB-TV said.
The investigation started after Wood sent WSB-TV investigative reporter Justin Gray an email, the station reported.
“I have been domiciled in South Carolina for several months after purchasing property in the state in April,” Wood told Gray in writing.
Gray tweeted the text of the email but did not state when it was sent or received.
Lin Wood confirms to me that he has moved out of Georgia. He says it has nothing to do with GA bar investigating him. He plans to maintain his GA Bar license & eventually join the SC bar. Part of his email to me is below: pic.twitter.com/IBAGK4oxmZ
— Justin Gray (@JustinGrayWSB) February 2, 2021
A more complete version of the email appeared in a broadcast story on WSB-TV’s evening newscast.
It’s unclear from the report how far back “several months” might be. The election was nearly four months ago as of the time of this writing.
Wood later told both WSB-TV and Law&Crime that he has “been a resident of the State of Georgia since 1955” and that he changed his “residency to South Carolina yesterday.” He added that the investigation into his voter status “is pure harassment by the Georgia Secretary of State because I have revealed credible evidence of election fraud on the part of Brad Raffensperger.”
Officials cited the following Georgia law in support of their move to investigate Wood:
(a) In determining the residence of a person desiring to register to vote or to qualify to run for elective office, the following rules shall be followed so far as they are applicable:
[ . . . ]
(4) If a person removes to another state with the intention of making it such person’s residence, such person shall be considered to have lost such person’s residence in this state[.]
However, the law also states that it is possible to buy a new home and to leave Georgia without losing residency — in some circumstances:
(2) A person shall not be considered to have lost such person’s residence who leaves such person’s home and goes into another state or county or municipality in this state, for temporary purposes only, with the intention of returning, unless such person shall register to vote or perform other acts indicating a desire to change such person’s citizenship and residence[.]
And, furthermore:
(9) The mere intention to acquire a new residence, without the fact of removal, shall avail nothing; neither shall the fact of removal without the intention[.]
Wood said previously that he did not vote in Georgia’s January Senate runoff election because he did not consider it legitimate, WSB-TV noted.
Editor’s note: this piece has been updated to include Lin Wood’s statement to Law&Crime, which was identical to the statement he provided to WSB-TV.
[image via screen capture from WSB-TV]
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
Follow Law&Crime:
