Voters will decide issue of residency

In a county where someone who's lived here for 20 years is often considered a newcomer, length of residence has come up as an issue on more than one occasion.

The state of Nevada recognizes the time someone lives in a place as an issue when running for office, but not much of one, since the requirement is only 30 days.

A month at any given address is sufficient to qualify for elected office, but hardly enough time to get all the boxes unpacked.

In Douglas County, where someone lives is far more critical than how long they've lived there. That's because the county is divided into two different senatorial districts, five county commission districts and seven school board areas.

In order to run for any of those seats, someone must swear they lived inside their district for 30 days prior to filing.

County Commission District 1 candidate Dave Nelson did so swear, both to the clerk and to us, that he's lived at the address on Winter Green since November, making him eligible to run for that office. At least a half-dozen of his neighbors dispute that.

Nelson admitted freely he moved to Pleasantview to seek the District 1 commission seat.

With the date to challenge candidates past, Nelson's name is going to appear on the primary ballot.

Just as they do with any candidate running for office, it will be left to voters to decide whether they trust Nelson's telling the truth about where he lives and what that means.