No matter where you are on the political spectrum, the fact remains that voting is one of our rights as an American citizen. There have been years I decided to execute my right and vote and there were other years I did not. Without getting into any sort of specific political stance, I decided that making sure I was able to vote this year was important to me.
I currently rent out a mailbox at a postal annex and I am assigned the main building address plus a number for the mailbox. This is nice because at first glance it doesn’t appear to be a post office box, but rather a normal business address. I didn’t think that voting would be an issue, so I registered to vote in early October. It was taking a while to hear back, but I finally received confirmation.
To my surprise, the fact I do not have a residential address is stopping me from voting. The fact that I have a business office I rent, a mailbox for my personal mail, as well as pay my taxes, leads me to believe that as an American I should be able to vote. Apparently that isn’t the case.
There are a variety of reasons why having a residential address makes sense and it could be something to look into for next time, but I’m not totally sure there is much to do about it now. I think as #VanLife becomes more mainstream, some things will have to change though. I hope the ability to vote as a tax-paying American can be one of them. For those of you that are not van-dwellers, we urge you to decide for yourself if you should vote. Below are some helpful resources for Tuesday if you do decide to flex your voting muscles!
Check Your Voter Registration
https://www.vote.org/am-i-registered-to-vote/
Find Your Polling Location
https://www.vote.org/polling-place-locator/
2018 Midterm Voter Guide
https://votesaveamerica.com/ballot