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Sen. Dick Lugar has been declared  ineligible to vote in the Indiana precinct in which he once lived.

The election board in Marion County voted 2-1 on Thursday in favor of a complaint brought to the board that argued Lugar and his wife shouldn't be allowed to vote there because they hadn't  lived at the address listed on their registration since the couple bought a home in Virginia more than 30 years ago.

The Indianapolis Star reports that the lawyer representing the complainant cited a state law that says a person loses his or her residency when the residence is abandoned.

Lugar is a Republican. The board that ruled him ineligible to vote comprises one Republican and two Democrats.

In a statement, Lugar spokesman Andy Fisher said the board "ignored" precedent and that the Lugars have "complied with Indiana law."

"Hoosiers everywhere have made it clear that they won't stand for these continued, calculated efforts to unfairly tarnish an Indiana statesman and his family," Fisher said.