Cramer v. Graham

In Cramer v. Graham, 264 S.W.2d 135 (Tex. Civ. App. - San Antonio 1954, writ ref'd), several votes were challenged on a variety of grounds. Two of the voters, who were married, testified that they had resided in the district for three months before the election. Id. Although they had maintained a homestead designation on their former residence, it was rented to their son and his family during the period relevant to the election, and the voters testified that they visited their former residence occasionally for periods of two or three days. Id. Both voters testified that they had moved into the district in July and were currently residing there. Id. The trial court found that these two voters resided in the district, and its finding was upheld by the court of appeals because the evidence supported the findings. Id. In Cramer, the appellate court rejected the trial court's findings of residence with respect to five of the votes. Id. These five voters were employed as farm laborers in the district beginning two days before the election. Id. at 137. No evidence indicated that they had ever worked in the district before October 2, and they left the district on October 11. Id. Although each farm worker had slept in the district for nine nights, the evidence showed that the five farm workers were in the district temporarily and after the election they had returned to their homes outside the district where they lived and voted for years. Id. at 138. Although the trial court found these voters to be residents of the district, the appellate court held that the voters were not residents of the district. Id.