# Can I be registered to vote in two states? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 22, 2013, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-registered-to-vote-in-two-states/651068 "2013-02-22T12:04:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-registered-to-vote-in-two-states/651068/21 "2013-02-23T00:36:12Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > There are states where that actually happens? Do you get votes for each property or anything? Certainly. I voted last November for the Minnehaha Creek Watershed Board (where I live), and then early this year got a mail ballot to vote for a director of the water & drain tile board from a rural county (where I grew up, and still own farmland). ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-registered-to-vote-in-two-states/651068/22 "2013-02-23T00:48:23Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > Interestingly a few years ago I received a letter in the mail from the city where I used to live out of state. This was mailed to my Virginia address directly, not forwarded. It was a ballot for a municipal election for city council, treasurer, municipal ballot issues etc. Basically the medium size town I had been living in had adopted a pilot program where they’d be doing vote by mail and just sent mail to all of the registered voters. I have no idea on how two things happened, one being how the city had my updated address in Virginia, and two why their system didn’t disallow me as a voter and purge me once they realized my residence was in a totally different State. The first probably happened because many states update their voter database via the Post Office’s National Change of Address system (just like many businesses do). The second happened because the state can’t assume this just because your mailing address is different from your voting address. They are different for lots of people: those with PO Box or Rural Route mail delivery, for students who go off to college, people serving in the armed forces, or people who spend part of the year elsewhere (here in Minnesota, we have many seniors who spend the winter in southern states). The state can’t arbitrarily deny people their right to vote for these reasons. ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-registered-to-vote-in-two-states/651068/23 "2013-02-23T01:18:31Z")
This happens all the time with politicians, of both Democrat and Republican persuasions. If I am not mistaken, Hillary Clinton was registered in Arkansas when she was elected in New York. There have been Republicans who have had the same thing happen (Quayle?). It seems rather common for congresspeople. I guess they have so many pressures, they forget. You’ll see this every so many years in the news. It never comes to anything, since the guilty party always says it was just an oversight and, since they only voted once, no harm - no foul. I don’t see you having a problem, but why register to vote in Florida if you don’t plan on voting there? Voter registration is not a requirement for residency. excavating (for a mind) ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-registered-to-vote-in-two-states/651068/24 "2013-02-23T02:09:42Z")
\*\*PRR \*\*- if you do decide to move down here…let us know what part of Florida. There are (apparently) a few of us Dopers in the area. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-registered-to-vote-in-two-states/651068/25 "2013-02-23T02:52:32Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > FWIW, I’m looking forward to voting in Florida elections–it’s been a while since my vote mattered around here. I’d love to vote against Rick Scott, against Marco Rubio, against whoever is running in the next Presidential election on the R ticket, and have my vote count for something. > > Not why I’m buying a house in Florida, tho. Just a bonus. Don’t get too excited. By the time they get around to counting your vote, the election will be over. 😃 > [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > There are states where that actually happens? Do you get votes for each property or anything? In some cases, you can get votes based on the area of property you own or even its [value](http://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/410/719/). ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-registered-to-vote-in-two-states/651068/26 "2013-02-23T05:47:17Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > I don’t know if any state separates out “federal elections” (which are run by the states) from the rest; my ballot last November was a single sheet that went from president at the top left to municipal income tax referendum at the bottom right. I keep forgetting this. Here in Canada, federal elections are run by Elections Canada, which is responsible to the federal parliament; provincial elections are run (in my case, anyways) by Elections Ontario, responsible to the provincial parliament; and municipal elections are run by the municipalities. Completely-different groups, completely-different ballots, completely-different days. These groups are also responsible for drawing the boundaries of their electoral districts (“riding”). In Ontario’s case, Elections Ontario simply decided that their ridings would be the same as the federal ones, and (at least the last time I voted in a City of Toronto election), the Toronto districts were each half of a provincial riding. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-registered-to-vote-in-two-states/651068.md?page=1)