Jul 10, 2009  |  By: Lou Chibbaro Jr.  | COMMENTS     

The pastor of a Prince George’s County church who is leading efforts to overturn D.C.’s same-sex marriage recognition law faces revocation of his voter registration in the District unless he responds to a complaint alleging that he doesn’t live in the city.

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.

Jackson could not be reached for comment to determine whether he has another D.C. address and still considers himself a D.C. resident, as he has during his campaign to overturn the same-sex marriage recognition law through a voter referendum.

The election board and a D.C. judge ruled that a referendum could not be held on the marriage law because it would violate the city’s Human Rights Act, which bars discrimination based on sexual orientation.

The law authorizing the city to recognize same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions took effect July 7.

A Blade investigation found that Jackson and his wife were registered voters in Montgomery County as of last week and that some neighbors on the street where the Jacksons own a house in Silver Spring believe the Jacksons still live there. The one-bedroom apartment in the Whitman that Jackson claimed as his residence is owned by someone else and could not be rented under the condo rules, according to others who live in the building.