My brother-in-law lived in California for several years, but in August he left California and started looking around for the next phase of his life. He visited us in NC for a few weeks, then went to Detroit to investigate a job opportunity. From there he traveled around New England for a few weeks before coming back to NC, and in mid-October he moved to Detroit to take the job. He lived with friends for a few weeks while he looked for a place to live, and finally moved into an apartment this week.
As near as I can tell, he is unable to cast a vote in this election anywhere. He’s not a resident of CA; he has no ties to NC; and you must register 30 days before an election in MI.
Am I right? If not, where would he be eligible, and how?
And if I’m right, is there an unconstitutional bias here against folks who are transient? (Note that this isn’t a rhetorical question; I’m genuinely curious about whether there’s any case law on the question).
The single allowable bump. Would this be a better General Questions question, maybe?
This query also applies to people who move in late October, I’d think–even if they were able to cast an early ballot at their old address (early voting is illegal in my state) it’s certainly harder to do so. My marriage broke up in September of 1992, and I didn’t find a place to live until October–I don’t know what I needed to do to register to vote at that point, but I sure as shit had more pressing issues to worry about, so I just didn’t vote. (Even though my new apartment was on the corner of President Street and Clinton Street in Brooklyn.)
Let’s put it this way: in which state does he have sufficient interest and command of the issues to be entitled to cast a vote?
That would answer the question of where he should vote, but I think the OP is interested in where he can vote (or even if he can vote at all)
When I was in that position I voted by absentee ballot in the state of my last permanent residence.
Cool, thanks for the answer!
I guess I’m wondering, then:
- Does this always work, or does this only work for certain states?
- How do homeless people register to vote?
- Are there situations in which a person can be in a situation in which they have no right to vote anywhere, despite having registered in time for a certain state, due to a recent move?
Mr. Downtown, unless you’re proposing we bring back some sort of poll test, your question is totally irrelevant.
What makes you think he cannot vote in CA? Hi IS still register there and not registered anywhere else, right?
I thought you could only vote in a state if you’re a resident of the state. He’s no longer a resident of California and hasn’t been for a few months. Can he still legally vote there?
It seems to me that you remain registered until you tell them differently. If he never registered anywhere else, it seems that he could still vote in CA.
That was my thinking - I had been registered in [previous state] for ten years, and I had not established residency or registered to vote anywhere else. Since people tend to be suspicious of you if you don’t have a permanent address somewhere, I used a friend’s house (with his knowledge and permission) until I established a new residence elsewhere.
His house probably was my permanent address - I usually stayed there when I was in town, had mail delivered there, etc. I just spent a lot more time away than I did there.