A LeClaire resident is asking the federal Office of Congressional Ethics to investigate U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks' voting address.
After the 2020 census, Republican Miller-Meeks' home county, Wapello, was put into southwest Iowa's 3rd Congressional District.
Miller-Meeks said at the time she would not sell her house in Ottumwa but would take up residence in the newly christened 1st District, which mostly overlapped with the district she represented before the 2020 redistricting.
Just before the 2022 election, Miller-Meeks changed her registered voting address from Ottumwa to Scott County.
But LeClaire resident Joyce Keuhl in her request to the congressional ethics office alleges public documents show Miller-Meeks still primarily resides in her Ottumwa home.
The Miller-Meeks’ campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Federal rules don't require members of Congress to live in the district they represent, just to reside in the same state.
Iowa election law, though, defines a voter's residence as "the place which the person declares is the person's home with the intent to remain there permanently or for a definite, or indefinite, or indeterminable length of time."
In late October 2022, Miller-Meeks changed her registration from her longtime Ottumwa address to the address of the home of a state senator in LeClaire, which is in Scott County and the 20-county 1st Congressional District, which also includes Johnson County.
According to voting records, Miller-Meeks voted in the 2022 general election in Scott County.
Just before the June 4 primary election this year, Miller-Meeks changed her registered voting address to a Davenport apartment on Jersey Ridge Road and voted in the primary.
According to Keuhl's request for investigation, Miller-Meeks and her husband, Curtis Meeks, have owned 33 acres in Ottumwa since March 2003. They built a home on that land in 2004.
The most recent property tax statement, included with Keuhl's request, lists that Miller-Meeks and her husband received a homestead credit for the property in the past two tax periods.
Miller-Meeks reported in congressional disclosure reports in 2022 and 2023 that she has a mortgage on her “personal residence in Ottumwa.” Campaign contributions list her Ottumwa address as her mailing address.
“Though Miller-Meeks has been registered to vote at various addresses in Scott County for nearly two years now, the facts presented above strongly suggest that her residence — the home where she lives and the primary home where she sleeps at night — is in Wapello County,” the request states. “...Thus, it appears she is violating Iowa voting law by remaining registered to vote and voting in a county and precinct where she does not reside.”
Keuhl alleges that if Miller-Meeks provided an incorrect address for voting purposes, she violates U.S. House rules that require members to “conduct (themselves) at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditability on the House“ and allows the ethics committee to deal with members' violations of the law.
In August, The Gazette sent Miller-Meeks' congressional office spokesperson a list of detailed questions about her address, such as which address she lists as her primary one for tax purposes and on her driver's license, whether she claims military service tax exemption at her Ottumwa address, the reasoning for the move from LeClaire to Davenport and how she splits her time between each location.
Miller-Meeks' spokesperson responded to The Gazette, “The congresswoman's residence is in Davenport” but did not answer other questions.
Iowa law permits residents to bring challenges to voter registration at the county level, though no challenges have been brought forward about Miller-Meeks’ address.
In 2022 in Polk County, residents brought a challenge to Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver's registered voting address at an apartment in Grimes, which he had changed from his Ankeny home where his wife and three children lived to run in a newly drawn state Senate district.
After a hearing, the Polk County auditor determined that Whitver legally resided in the Grimes apartment, and that the evidence in the challenge was not sufficient to prove Whitver did not live in Grimes.
No similar challenges have been filed in Scott County to contest Miller-Meeks’ Scott County address, county auditor Kerri Tompkins confirmed in an email.
In order to challenge a voter's registered address, Tompkins wrote, a form must be completed and submitted and the county would notify the voter being challenged. A hearing allows the challenger and the voter to provide evidence.
www.thegazette.com
After the 2020 census, Republican Miller-Meeks' home county, Wapello, was put into southwest Iowa's 3rd Congressional District.
Miller-Meeks said at the time she would not sell her house in Ottumwa but would take up residence in the newly christened 1st District, which mostly overlapped with the district she represented before the 2020 redistricting.
Just before the 2022 election, Miller-Meeks changed her registered voting address from Ottumwa to Scott County.
But LeClaire resident Joyce Keuhl in her request to the congressional ethics office alleges public documents show Miller-Meeks still primarily resides in her Ottumwa home.
The Miller-Meeks’ campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Federal rules don't require members of Congress to live in the district they represent, just to reside in the same state.
Iowa election law, though, defines a voter's residence as "the place which the person declares is the person's home with the intent to remain there permanently or for a definite, or indefinite, or indeterminable length of time."
In late October 2022, Miller-Meeks changed her registration from her longtime Ottumwa address to the address of the home of a state senator in LeClaire, which is in Scott County and the 20-county 1st Congressional District, which also includes Johnson County.
According to voting records, Miller-Meeks voted in the 2022 general election in Scott County.
Just before the June 4 primary election this year, Miller-Meeks changed her registered voting address to a Davenport apartment on Jersey Ridge Road and voted in the primary.
Ottumwa home
According to Keuhl's request for investigation, Miller-Meeks and her husband, Curtis Meeks, have owned 33 acres in Ottumwa since March 2003. They built a home on that land in 2004.
The most recent property tax statement, included with Keuhl's request, lists that Miller-Meeks and her husband received a homestead credit for the property in the past two tax periods.
Miller-Meeks reported in congressional disclosure reports in 2022 and 2023 that she has a mortgage on her “personal residence in Ottumwa.” Campaign contributions list her Ottumwa address as her mailing address.
“Though Miller-Meeks has been registered to vote at various addresses in Scott County for nearly two years now, the facts presented above strongly suggest that her residence — the home where she lives and the primary home where she sleeps at night — is in Wapello County,” the request states. “...Thus, it appears she is violating Iowa voting law by remaining registered to vote and voting in a county and precinct where she does not reside.”
Keuhl alleges that if Miller-Meeks provided an incorrect address for voting purposes, she violates U.S. House rules that require members to “conduct (themselves) at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditability on the House“ and allows the ethics committee to deal with members' violations of the law.
In August, The Gazette sent Miller-Meeks' congressional office spokesperson a list of detailed questions about her address, such as which address she lists as her primary one for tax purposes and on her driver's license, whether she claims military service tax exemption at her Ottumwa address, the reasoning for the move from LeClaire to Davenport and how she splits her time between each location.
Miller-Meeks' spokesperson responded to The Gazette, “The congresswoman's residence is in Davenport” but did not answer other questions.
Challenges
Iowa law permits residents to bring challenges to voter registration at the county level, though no challenges have been brought forward about Miller-Meeks’ address.
In 2022 in Polk County, residents brought a challenge to Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver's registered voting address at an apartment in Grimes, which he had changed from his Ankeny home where his wife and three children lived to run in a newly drawn state Senate district.
After a hearing, the Polk County auditor determined that Whitver legally resided in the Grimes apartment, and that the evidence in the challenge was not sufficient to prove Whitver did not live in Grimes.
No similar challenges have been filed in Scott County to contest Miller-Meeks’ Scott County address, county auditor Kerri Tompkins confirmed in an email.
In order to challenge a voter's registered address, Tompkins wrote, a form must be completed and submitted and the county would notify the voter being challenged. A hearing allows the challenger and the voter to provide evidence.
Where does Mariannette Miller-Meeks live?
LeClaire resident seeks ethics probe of Republican rep’s voting address
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