Indiana tea party members challenge Lugar residency

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INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana tea party group is accusing U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar of voter fraud and wants him removed from the ballot.

Hoosiers for Conservative Senate is asking Gov. Mitch Daniels to act on a complaint over Lugar’s residency that was filed in November. The tea party umbrella group supports state Treasurer Richard Mourdock in the GOP primary that poses Lugar’s toughest election challenge in years.

National Democrats and conservative groups have coalesced around Lugar’s residency as they argue he is out of touch with Hoosiers. The six-term senator lives in Virginia but votes from an Indianapolis home he sold in 1977.

The Indiana attorney general ruled in 1982 that a member of Congress is eligible to vote in the state but isn’t required to maintain a home there after election.