BATON ROUGE - After three Baton Rouge candidates have been sued by their opponents over where they live, political analyst James Hartman says that candidates who are running for public office need to be honest.

"If you're lying about your residency, you're digging yourself a very deep hole," he said. 

Tuesday in Port Allen, a West Baton Rouge judge removed City Council candidate Shelton Berry from the November ballot for not meeting the one-year residency requirement. 

Later that day, a judge in East Baton Rouge Parish ruled against two Supreme Court District 2 candidates who plaintiffs say aren't eligible for the race. According to property records, candidate Leslie Chambers owns a home in Prairieville and has used her Ascension Parish address on campaign records on multiple occasions. The other candidate hadn't filed taxes properly. 

A separate hearing in Port Allen is scheduled Wednesday on a challenge to the candidacy of mayoral candidate Lance Joseph. The lawsuit claims that he resides in Plaquemine. 

Hartman says that residential challenges are becoming more common in elections and that potential candidates need to make sure that their voter registration and homestead exemption align. 

"The best thing for any candidate to do would be to make sure their house is in order before they run for public office," Hartman said. 

The recent cases have sparked a discussion over whether the newly redrawn districts are affecting Baton Rouge elections. Candidates who live outside of a district because of redistricting can still move in the area they would like to run in within a certain time. Hartman says that this doesn't affect much and should not be an excuse.

"If someone is truly politically minded and truly looking at running, redistricting should not catch them by surprise," he said. 

He also stated that residential challenges can weaken voter confidence among a candidate and is a red flag to judges that are hearing the cases. He advises candidates to be honest about their residencies. 

"Just tell the truth. Be honest. Most judges are not going to be heavy-handed about these things if you have legitimate evidence that what you've done is within the law," Hartman said.