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A thread in the "Health Issues & Medical Insurance" forum got me to thinking about the issue of voting as it applies to fulltimers who own no property in the location that they are registered to vote and how the domicile of fulltimers impacts the outcome of the elections where we maintain our addresses. I will try to make as inclusive a poll as I can and I also ask that we be completely honest since this is totally anonymous as to who says what. Please respond only as you do while fulltime or if you used to be fulltime but no longer do so, feel free to respond with an accurate indication of what you did when you were fulltime.
Not truly related to the poll, as we still own property in our domicile, and spend around 6 months of the year here. We stay abreast of local issues, and vote with an informed mind. The only one I'm torn on, is for school boards, as we don't have kids or grand-kids in schools. We try to make it a point to talk to people with families, to give us at least an idea of the issues, and listen to the candidates at open forums. If I don't feel I have a handle on the situation, I will abstain.
It would not let me select two answers to get the wording I wanted so I had to select don't fit any.
Linda
I always vote. It is our duty as an American. I try to go online and research all the candidates, and issues so I can make an educated choice even tho I do not have a physical presence in my domicle.
We vote in nearly every election, including for local offices and proposals/bonds. We feel that we should vote on the local issues, since our "exit plan" cottage and our mail service are in the same voting district.
We always vote, and of course we are currently full timers. Since your polling is only for folks that use a paid mail service I am guessing it has more to do with that rather than any type of information about voting. Anyway, we couldn't answer because we don't utilize a paid mail service.
We are long timers not full timers as we have our S&B although we are rarely there when it comes time to vote. We have not missed a vote at any level in over 50 years.
It seems that I didn't explain the intent as well as I should. The poll idea came out of the discussion of voting while using a mail service as your domiciles, such as is common for TX, SD, and FL. It comes out of the current review of related laws in FL. That same issue has popped up at times in SD and there was a major lawsuit over it in TX 20 years ago followed by legislative action on the issue to resolve it. Local residents tend to bring the issue up in areas where there are large numbers of fulltimers (either RV or boat) who in many cases have never actually resided in the state of domicile. The intention of the poll was to get some feel for how many fulltimers do vote in those locations and if they vote on local issues. For many years the Escapees have encouraged the members to vote, but not to do so on local issues or offices. On a statewide election, I rather doubt that we make that major an effect on the results but in local jurisdictions, we could cause a major shift in political majorities. I have no idea the numbers of votes involved in other areas, but the Escapee's mail service has more than 15k active addresses and I suspect that enough of those have 2 voters to make that account for a potential 20 - 30k of votes. In an area like Polk Co. TX, that can completely change the outcome of local elections, which is the primary concern expressed by most of the local folks who challenge it.
Edited June 11 by Kirk W
When we were South Dakota "residents" we only voted on national issues. We simply didn't know enough to vote on local issues. But your poll only gave that option if you voted in every election which we didn't.
Linda
But your poll only gave that option if you voted in every election which we didn't.
It is impossible to create a poll that has every possible choice covered exactly, but....
I always vote in each election but do not vote for local office holders or bond issues.
But your poll only gave that option if you voted in every election which we didn't.
It is impossible to create a poll that has every possible choice covered exactly, but....
I always vote in each election but do not vote for local office holders or bond issues.
That's what i said: Your only option for not voting on local issues required you to vote in every election. Since we did the first but not the second I felt it only right to choose none of the above. I agree that it is very had to create a poll with all the options but isn't that why you included a none of the above? Why do I feel you are taking me to task for choosing it?
Linda
Why do I feel you are taking me to task for choosing it?
I have no idea..... It was only an attempt to get an idea of how much impact fulltimers have on the elections in communities that are home to an RV mail service. There was no expectation of scientific accuracy, only general information. Perhaps I need to close the poll?
Edited June 11 by Kirk W
My understanding the current issue in FL is not just voting but allocation of money in the counties based on the number of residents. A local county to where mail services are located are saying the county is getting money for residents that spend no time in that county
My understanding the current issue in FL is not just voting but allocation of money
This makes sense, and could be a precursor to litigation similar to what occurred in Texas some years back. This may also relate to the open arms of South Dakota regarding full time RVers. There was a time when I considered the House of Representatives might also be a factor but apparently the RV population hasn't had an effect in this matter as South Dakota still has only one Representative, as per the list here https://www.britannica.com/topic/House-of-Representatives-United-States-government
Spot
Edited June 16 by $Spot
If the issue was federal money then they should want as many fulltimers as possible. If the concern is local control, they probably don't want fulltimers there. Of course there are probably those who want as many of us as possible to be counted by the census takers but not allow any of us to vote there. ?
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