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This may be reaching, and may be inappropriate to Politics, but here goes:

Trump "officially" moved from Trump Tower New York to Mar-A-Lago and therefore cast his vote in the Nov 3rd election as a resident of Florida. However, he had previously signed an agreement that he would not use Mar-A-Lago as his residence (as reported here). Not having any alternative address in Florida (presumably), he could not be considered a Florida resident, thus casting a vote in Florida as he did would be a violation of voting rules, wouldn't it? Again, having previously signed an agreement to not use Mar-A-Lago as a place of residence, and having "converted" the complex from a residence to a club would make the complex ineligible to declare as his residence, and thus make it fraudulent to do so on his voter registration, wouldn't it?

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    With whom did he have an agreement not to use Mar-A-Lago as residence?
    – Polygnome
    Commented Dec 16, 2020 at 20:09
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    I would guess that he'd be in violation of his agreement with Palm Beach, rather than with Florida election law. That is, legally, he did make his residence in Mar-A-Lago, and so he voted legally, but that is a violation of his agreement with Palm Beach, for which they could sue him.
    – divibisan
    Commented Dec 16, 2020 at 20:11
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    @AnthonyX The question is whether Mar-A-Lago cannot be a place of residency under state law (for example, if I tried to call a street corner my residence, it wouldn't be accepted, as a street corner can't legally be a residence) or whether the ban is part of a contract between 2 parties, in which enforcement comes down to one side suing the other.
    – divibisan
    Commented Dec 16, 2020 at 20:23
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    The city of palm beach has no authority to disenfranchise federal elections. However, they could punish him for living there, using the vote as evidence.
    – dandavis
    Commented Dec 16, 2020 at 23:11
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    From your link: "A number of President Trump’s neighbors in Palm Beach, Fla., are arguing that he is legally barred from taking up primary residence at his Mar-a-Lago resort after leaving the White House." Has Donald Trump left the White House yet???? -1 for an extremely disingenuous question.
    – Just Me
    Commented Dec 17, 2020 at 17:26

1 Answer 1

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Did Trump vote illegally?

Not based on whether Mar-a-Lago is a residence, even those with no residence can vote. See, Registering and voting in Florida, even if you don’t have a permanent address or ID.

Thus, the question of whether Mar-a-Lago is or can be a residence for the purpose of voting is irrelevant.

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    @Fizz - The dispute as to whether Mar-a-Lago is a residence is with the City of Palm Beach. Both the State of Florida and Palm Beach County accept that Donald and Melania Trump are citizens and residents, to all intents and purposes. What more can I say?
    – Rick Smith
    Commented Dec 16, 2020 at 21:12
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    Also, "residence" is not the same thing in the very different legal contexts of eligibility for voting and for property restrictions.
    – jeffronicus
    Commented Dec 16, 2020 at 21:54
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    @Fizz "he'd have to have established prior residency in Florida (as that page says)": nowhere on that page does it say anything about prior residence. There is nothing that says or implies that a homeless person from Chicago cannot turn up at some street corner in Florida and register to vote in Florida using that street corner as a residence address.
    – phoog
    Commented Dec 17, 2020 at 4:12
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    @Jetpack elected federal representatives are an exception - they keep voting based on their "home" jurisdictions. I.e. Obama always voted in Chicago.
    – JonathanReez
    Commented Dec 17, 2020 at 19:50
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    @RickSmith Right... hence this question, of how he is allowed to claim residency without residing there -- without ever having resided there. Can an elected official seriously just arbitrarily claim residency anywhere in the country?
    – Tim Sparkles
    Commented Dec 17, 2020 at 20:40

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