Critics suggest maybe not, considering that Fiorina, 54, who has a spotty voting California voting record, never cast a ballot in two other states where she lived previously, according to public records.

Officials in Morris County, N.J., said records show she registered to vote there in 1997 but did not vote in a single election and was dropped from the voter rolls in 2005 as inactive.

Before that, Fiorina lived in Montgomery County, Md., where the registrar's office said they reviewed state databases and found no listing of Fiorina's voter registration.

Fiorina strongly disputes the voting records as "just wrong," her spokeswoman, Beth Miller, said. Miller said Tuesday that Fiorina has no records to prove her past voting record and has acknowledged her failure to vote in some elections. But while "she didn't vote all the time ... she did vote," the spokeswoman added.

In June, The Chronicle reported that Fiorina had voted in just five of 18 national, state and local elections in which she was eligible to cast a ballot since she registered in Santa Clara County in 2000, according to public records. At the time, Fiorina's chief of staff, Deborah Bowker, said, "It's never good not to vote."

Campaign issue

Fiorina's erratic voting record in a handful of states could become an issue in a campaign for U.S. Senate, said Mark Petracca, a professor of politics at UC Irvine.

"It says quite clearly that she hasn't been a very responsible citizen," Petracca said. "It's what we used to teach people - that one of the key responsibilities of citizenship is that you participate. And she's failed in that regard.

"Lots of people will say, 'Yeah, well, there are times I didn't vote either,' " Petracca said, but candidate Fiorina will have to explain "a pattern of noninvolvement in the political process."

Assemblyman Chuck Devore, R-Irvine, a declared candidate for Boxer's seat, released a statement Tuesday criticizing Fiorina for being "silent on all of California's major political battles for the last decade" and lambasting her for failing to vote in nearly three-fourths of elections in her home county since 2000. He added that that he has "never missed an election."

Meanwhile, Fiorina announced Tuesday that she has begun the formal process of exploring a bid for the Senate seat and filed the name "Carly for California" with the Internal Revenue Service. The move is "the preliminary step to the exploratory (committee)," said her spokeswoman, and is required before moving forward with a campaign and fundraising.

"The people of California have serious concerns about job creation, economic growth and the role of government in solving problems that touch each of our lives," Fiorina said in a statement. "I have received a great deal of encouragement to make a run for the Senate in 2010 from people across the political spectrum because these are all issues that need focused attention in Washington."

'An interesting place'

Some Republicans have cheered Fiorina's plans to challenge Boxer, the junior senator from California who was first elected to the job in 1992. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, chairman of the powerful National Republican Senatorial Committee, said recently that "if Fiorina gets in, California will be an interesting place, at least."

In addition to questions about her voting record, Fiorina faces scrutiny over her business and charitable dealings.

The Chronicle reported in July that Fiorina, who headed HP from 1999 to 2005 and now describes herself as chairwoman of the board and CEO of Carly Fiorina Enterprises, has not filed documents to conduct such a business in California. Bowker, her chief of staff, has said that Carly Fiorina Enterprises is a "sole proprietorship" and not required to do so.

Fiorina also has not registered her charity, the Fiorina Foundation, with the IRS or the California attorney general's charitable trust division. She said that the charity bearing her name is "not a private foundation" and therefore not required to register.

A spokesman for Attorney General Jerry Brown said Tuesday that an inquiry is under way.

E-mail Carla Marinucci at cmarinucci@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page A - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle