RV Full Timers in the News

Posted by Elizabeth Borer Nov 15, 2007

When I started up my computer on November 7 after voting the day before, I was surprised to see the mention of RVs in the main news section of my homepage. I know that I am very interested in RVing and RV news, but I knew that whatever was in the link had to be of interest to many more people - and I was right.

In Cleveland, Tennessee in Bradley County, many full-time RVers have been removed from the voting logs over the last 2 years. Tennessee changed their voting laws in 2005 to be stricter, leaving full-timers who use mail forwarding services to be left behind. Not only have these people been taken off the log for local elections, but for national ones as well. Some county officials feel that these RVers are just using the state for the lack of income tax, rather than actually living and contributing to the area. Regardless of the reason for the removal, taking away someone's right to vote is not only unconstitutional, but just plain wrong, in my opinion. It is one thing for officials to not want their local elections to be skewed by people who do not spend the majority of their time in the area, but to take away their national voice should not be allowed in any state.

A similar incident occurred in Texas in 2000 regarding 9,000 RVers, resulting in a lawsuit and an eventual win. Full-time RVers have a passion for traveling this country and should be welcome to share their opinions as to how it should be run, not punished for their lifestyle. Head over to the RV Travel discussion section to share your opinion on this topic!