Alaska Candidate Kicked Off Ballot for Being Homeless

These days Barbara Bachmeier owns a house in Anchorage and even has a career as a real estate agent, and the Army veteran would like to run for Congress. Instead, she's been thrown off the ballot, for no greater sin than because just 10 months ago she was living in a camper shell on the back of her truck, the Anchorage Daily News reports. That means she doesn’t technically meet the 12-month residency requirement to run, the Division of Elections says.

It's rare for Alaska to remove a candidate who's already been certified on the ballot, which Bachmeier was—until a pair of Alaska voters filed a complaint challenging her candidacy. Bachmeier thinks the complaint was orchestrated by fellow Republican and would-be primary rival Gabrielle LeDoux. Asked if she was involved, LeDoux replied, "I actually don't think that's a relevant question. I think the only important question is whether or not Barbara Bachmeier was constitutionally eligible to run in this district." (More Barbara Bachmeier stories.)