Ready for a little voter registration road trip?

Democrats say Republican Pete Olson broke the law by voting in one state while he was registered to vote in another. Olson aides say the Democrats have their facts mixed up and that their guy was only voting in one state. Olson is challenging U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson, D-Stafford, in this year's election.

The Lone Star Project — run by a Washington, D.C. consultant to bolster Texas Democrats — says Olson, registered to vote in Newton, Connecticut, which is in Fairfield County, in 1996 and voted absentee there from through 1997. In 1998, he changed his address and registered to vote in Fairfax County, Virginia.

According to their research [1], Olson voted seven times in Virginia between 1998 and 2003 — but voted in the 2003 special election in Connecticut. And they contend he kept his voter registrations in both states. In 2005, he signed a form to verify he wasn't living in Newton anymore. He remained in Virginia until last year, when he moved to Fort Bend County. He changed his address and has voted in Texas ever since.

The Olson campaign says that's a tall tale designed to hurt their guy. The candidate opted out of this interview — his spokesperson, Amy Goldstein, took the wheel.

"I believe that the story is the desperation of the Democrats to make this stuff up, trying to cast Pete Olson in a certain light," says Goldstein. "This is purely a media issue."

In '96 and '97, Olson was serving in the Navy and stationed at the Pentagon. Goldstein says Olson had to list a permanent address to get an absentee ballot, so he listed his parents' home in Connecticut. He never owned property there, she says. In '98, Olson got out of the Navy, cancelled his Connecticut registration, and registered in Virginia.

As for the 2003 double-vote, Goldstein says that voters in Newton don't have to show a photo ID to register — just something with a printed name and either a photo, a signature or an address. Olson thinks someone else voted in his name.

Goldstein characterizes the issue as a waste of time. The candidate hasn't gotten any curious calls from voters, so they're hoping to leave it alone.

"There is so much that's not true about this," Goldstein says.

Still, they aren't offering anything to back up their story, other than saying whoever voted that day didn't have to show a picture ID. Goldstein says at first, Olson and his wife Nancy Olson recalled being on vacation with her parents during that 2003 election. But after piecing it together, he realized he was at work in D.C. that day.

"I am sure that somewhere in the Senate offices there is a record of him being at work that day," Goldstein says. "He's quite upset by the charge and really wants to get to the bottom of it... but half his stuff is in storage from the move, and taking days out of the campaign to find one date book isn't worth it right now."

Up in Connecticut, officials are scrunching their eyebrows. Av Harris, spokesman for the Secretary of State, says if someone committed voter fraud by impersonation, the SOS's office would probably know about it — and they haven't heard of anything in the last 10 years.

"We heard a couple of months ago, and contacted the Registrar of Voters to find out an explanation," Goldstein says when asked Olson made any protest. "They are aware of the issue, but I don't think we filed an official complaint — even though Pete is very disconcerted by this. We just didn't think of it. Thanks for the idea."

La Reine Frampton, Newton's registrar of voters, says she can't imagine why anyone would have impersonated another voter in that 2003 special election, which the city called to decide the fate of developing a recently purchased psychiatric hospital.

"Why would they?" Frampton says. "It was a small turnout, maybe 2,300 of 14,000 registered voters came out. I don't know if it was him [Olson] or not, all I know is his name was checked off the way we code it, as having been in person."

Frampton says she's tired of the whole mess.

"If he could show where he was on that day, this would not be an issue and it would go away," Frampton says. "He should show his proof so we can all get on with our lives."

— by Karie Meltzer