AMHERST - The Board of Registrars has found no grounds to ask Select Board member Anne Awad and husband Robie Hubley to defend their residency and voting rights.

Registrars Harry Brooks, Gladys Rodriguez and Joyce Crouch voted unanimously that there was no need to have a further meeting on the subject, following a half hour discussion of the matter on Thursday.

It was necessary to hold the meeting and vote, because a citizen, Larry Kelley, had filed a complaint questioning whether the couple are primary residents of Amherst. Hubley and Awad have taken a mortgage and filed a Declaration of Homestead on the South Hadley home they recently purchased, proof Kelley said that it's their primary residence.

Awad announced last week that she would resign her seat effective Aug. 31, although her term ends in April, because she has been "stalked" and "harassed" by a citizen, and will eventually move to South Hadley but categorically lives in Amherst now.

Awad and Hubley attended Thursday's meeting, but as it was not the venue to make or defend their case, Town Clerk Sandra Burgess said, they did not speak until after the registrars voted. Kelley is in China, where he and his wife recently adopted a daughter, and could not attend.

As evidence for his case, Kelley has asserted that the terms of their South Hadley mortgage require that Hubley and Awad occupy the house as of June 10. But Burgess said those terms are the banks' - not state law - and not relevant to their residency in Amherst.

Hubley not only continues to own a condominium on North East Street, Burgess said, Awad owns a house on Pine Street. Even if the condominium were to sell next week, it would still not mean the pair were not residents of Amherst, Burgess said.

"There's nothing to say they're not living on Pine Street," said Burgess. Or they could be staying in a friend's spare room, the clerk said. From her perspective, Burgess said, Awad and Hubley could sleep over in the South Hadley house and spend time there. Residency is determined, in part, by where an individual says it is, she said.

Hubley thanked board members for their vote, saying that he and Awad have been "deeply hurt" and "lost a great deal of sleep over this."

"You've made the correct decision, and I thank you very much for that," Hubley said.

"Some day, I'll get my sense of humor back," Awad said.

Mary Carey can be reached at mary.carey@att.net.