Life on the Road: Voting

The general election is drawing near. If you have an established home you don’t have to plan ahead. However, for those of us who live on the road full time it takes some advanced planning to exercise our right to vote. With the use of the Internet the task has become so much easier.

Task One: Registering to Vote. Where?
Although we would rather just be Americans, it is a requirement that we choose a state as our legal residence. We selected Texas although it was over three years before we actually visited the city we use for our address. We are proud to be members of the Escapees RV Club and use their unique services, although we no longer have an RV.

Task Two: Voter Registration and Requesting the Absentee Ballot.
A simple web search will take you to the voter registration and absentee ballot application page for your state. I simply printed the ballot request form, filled it in and faxed it to the county clerk. All the important deadlines for registering, requesting ballots and voting were clearly stated.

Task Three: Decide where to have the ballots sent.
Sounds simple, but consider: our mail service is in the county where we are registered to vote. A ballot can’t be sent to an address in the same county as you have just claimed you will be absent from the county. Our mail service has established an alternative address for the use of its members, if needed.

Task Four: Wait and Wonder.
For this election we decided we would have the ballots mailed directly to our current location. We faxed the absentee ballot request to the county clerk in Livingston, TX. Three days later Hurricane Ike blew through the area. Our mail service was closed for over a week and it followed the county offices would also be experiencing difficulties.

We began to wait and wonder. Did the ccounty clerk receive the application? Would they mail the ballots? Would we still be at our current location when the ballots arrived? If not, would we return in time to mail in the ballots prior to the election deadline? Luckily, the ballots arrived without delay.

Now, all we have to do is research the local, state and federal candidates, decide who or what to vote for and get the ballots in the mail prior to the Nov. 4th deadline. Exercise your right to vote.