Tisbury town administrator John Bugbee has registered to vote in Fall River after his eligibility to vote in Island elections was questioned by a Tisbury resident.

At the March 6 primary election Mr. Bugbee was listed as inactive on the Tisbury voter rolls after failing to return his census form to town hall. When he arrived at the polling place that day Mr. Bugbee signed an affirmation of current and continuous residence for a Tisbury address, under penalty of perjury, to vote in the election. As it turns out, Mr. Bugbee, who splits time between Fall River, Sandwich and Vineyard Haven, declared homestead on a Fall River apartment in 2007 and as a result was not eligible to vote in Tisbury. Mr. Bugbee also had not lived at the residence listed on his driver’s license, which served as proof of residence, for three years.

The matter was brought to the board of registrars by Tisbury resident Eugene DeCosta on March 15.

On Wednesday Mr. Bugbee apologized for the confusion and says that he immediately corrected the problem by changing his voter registration to Fall River. Mr. Bugbee said he was genuinely confused about where he was eligible to vote and thought that he had signed a voter eligibility form rather than an affidavit.

“I didn’t know where I was supposed to be voting,” he said. “My license says it’s here, my P.O. Box says I’m here. In the end I was wrong, I made a mistake. I should have known. When I found out it was incorrect I fixed it that day.”

The board of registrars has referred the matter to the board of selectmen.