Questions raised about where candidates for Pinckney seat live

Attorney Margie Bright Matthews and state Rep. Kenneth Hodges, D-Green Pond, are both claiming lifelong ties to Senate District 45 as they vie to be its next state senator.

But neither Democrat may live in the six-county district.

While both candidates filed election paperwork that listed home addresses within the district's boundaries, neighbors and property records raise questions about where each candidate really lives.

Hodges is registered to vote at his Green Pond house in Colleton County, and he lists that address in election paperwork. But he also owns another home in Burton -- just over a mile outside the district -- where neighbors say he and his wife spend most nights. The home is closer to Beaufort's Tabernacle Baptist Church where Hodges serves as pastor.

Meanwhile, Bright Matthews is registered to vote at a large apartment in downtown Walterboro in the same building as her law firm is located. But she also owns a home on Jones Swamp Road -- less than five miles outside of the district -- that is still taxed by Colleton County as her and her husband's primary residence. The couple hasn't paid property taxes on the property in more than two years, tax records show, but it is still legally theirs.

Bright Matthews and Hodges contend that confusion over where they live is irrelevant to their ability to represent the district.

Under current election laws, they could be right, say several experts.

While state rules require that S.C. lawmakers live within the districts to which they are elected, the rules are not as simple as they sound. For example, the location where a candidate sleeps every night is not necessarily considered his home.

And that's no good for South Carolinians, said Ashley Landess, president of the S.C. Policy Council, a Columbia-based group that pushes for state government accountability.

"The reason for residency requirements is that you have a right to be represented in office by someone who lives ... in your community," Landess said. "That's what your lawmakers are supposed to be. The laws they pass should affect them the same way they affect their constituents."