Filed under: RVing & the Legal System

Voting: Easy as Pie?

November 3, 2012 by Cynthia Baum · 1 Comment

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Voting While on the Move

Full-time RVers face unique challenges when it comes to voting, whether on the city, state, or national level. While not being “homeless” in the “hopelessly broke” sense of the word, many are consistently on the move and indeed lack a permanent home address. This causes unforeseen headaches for them that the typical homeowners and other residents with a permanent home address, do not face. With the numerous issues, such as not being able to vote for certain officers, such as mayor in a given city; there are also perks, like not having to pay certain city taxes. While the perks may or may not outweigh the detriments, some full-time RVers have found it worthwhile to use a mail forwarding company that provides them with a legal street address. Since the laws vary from state to state, there are still others who have been told that using the address of a mail forwarding company will not work and is indeed not a legal address for their voter registration.

Caught in the Middle

Countless full-time RVers feel like they are caught in the middle, with no apparent rules, regulations, or voting laws that pertain to them and their unique mobile lifestyle. To many it feels like a lot of the time, rules are made up as they go, which can be extremely frustrating. Some count themselves fortunate enough to have a family member who lets them use their address as their permanent home address; while others may not feel as comfortable with this type of “solution.” With the laws for voting being specific for each and every state, many “full-timers” have found Texas and South Dakota to be the friendliest states for full-time RVers. This is in part due to the municipal authorities in those states tending to be more RVer-friendly than in other states.

Initiating Change

The issue regarding full-time RVers wanting to vote while not having a permanent legal address can be extremely annoying and an enormous hassle. It is worthwhile to remember that the rules and regulations are in place to keep the frauds from illegally voting and the cheats from voting multiple times. We all need to put our heads together to find a working solution so that full-time RVers don’t face as many obstacles with making sure their vote counts!