Residency and voters rights in South Dakota

OK Let me try this:

Proposed bills House Bill 1232 and Senate Bill 124 contain language which will affect RVers who use South Dakota for their domicile, but most importantly will impede their right to vote.

Sponsored by Karla Lems, a District 16 Republican, HB1232 declares “the term, residence, means the place in which a person has fixed the person’s habitation and to which the person, whenever absent, intends to return.” Additionally, the bill states “no person may register to vote using a business location or campground as a registration address.”

Introduced by Julie Frye-Mueller, a Republican from District 30, SB124 is to “ensure that the address provided in the voter registration application is confirmed as a residence and not a commercial or industrial address…”

This is not the first time that South Dakota has had legislation along these lines introduced. Fortunately, similar bills have not been voted into law in the past. There may be a need to reach out to SD legislators. These bills are not out of committee yet.

House Bill 1232, Representative Karla Lems- Karla.Lems@sdlegislature.gov

Senate Bull 124, Senator Julie Frye-Mueller- Julie.FryeMueller@sdlegislature.gov

South Dakota proposes law to end full-time RVers’ domicile, voting rights

South Dakota has long been recognized as a haven for full-time RVers. With no state income tax, low fees on vehicle registration and other privileges, many RVers from other states have “set up shop” with one of the state’s many private mailbox services to officially establish residency there. But proposed legislation, if passed, will likely end such benefits for both existing and future full-timers.

Both a House and Senate bill would, for example, if passed as written, wipe out a full-time RVer’s ability to vote in the Mount Rushmore state. The other bill would essentially ban anyone from establishing residency there unless they actually lived in the state.

Just FYI

JimR

Seeking Advice

Bobbo
Explorer II
Feb 19, 2023
pbeverly wrote:
I have been voting absentee for a few years now and would never go back to in person. I get my ballot a few weeks in a advance and take the time to research everyone on the ballot and others items that I may be voting on.

In my jurisdiction, at least, the sample ballot is available online before the election. Getting an absentee ballot is not required to become an educated voter.
pbeverly
Nomad
Feb 19, 2023
I have been voting absentee for a few years now and would never go back to in person. I get my ballot a few weeks in a advance and take the time to research everyone on the ballot and others items that I may be voting on. It allows me the opportunity to truly be an INFORMED voter. In the past I would know who/what I was going to vote for on the major things but now I can really research down the the school board level. I can check to see when my ballot was mailed to, see when they get it back and see when it is actually counted.
bucky
Explorer II
Feb 19, 2023
With the clowns, crooks, and liars in office at all levels we may just as well have a dart throwing election.
wnjj
Explorer II
Feb 19, 2023
stickdog wrote:
Strange so many against democracy and the right to vote. Hell, Walaby wants only land owners to be able to vote. Do I see any hands for a poll tax? Hey we tried that allowing women to vote how is that working? Glad this bunch isn't writing the voting laws.

You’re reading way too much into what Walaby wrote. Residence does not equal land owner and is also a perfectly common sense requirement for voting. How else do you attach one person to one vote? Seems very democratic to me.

We are also a constitutional republic, not a democracy.
Bobbo
Explorer II
Feb 19, 2023
Walaby wrote:
I think in order to vote in local and state elections (including Senator/Congressmen), then one should have a stick and brick residence in the state and community.

In the 1700's and early 1800's, only landed gentry (land owners) could vote. Do you really want to go back to that? Do you not think folks who rent property should have a vote? What about "universal suffrage"?
stickdog
Explorer
Feb 19, 2023
Strange so many against democracy and the right to vote. Hell, Walaby wants only land owners to be able to vote. Do I see any hands for a poll tax? Hey we tried that allowing women to vote how is that working? Glad this bunch isn't writing the voting laws.
JRscooby
Explorer II
Feb 18, 2023
ferndaleflyer wrote:
Make Election Day a national holiday, only day to vote, only mail ins are military. Do away with all the other BS. Vote at your REAL home. Full timers show up where you “call” home to vote register your vehicles, get drivers license, etc like I do.

Whenever I see Make Election Day a National Holiday my first thought is somebody does not pay attention to local elections, or how national elections work. Where I live, the next election is April 4, 2023. (Last year I worked 4 elections). How can you have primary election on the same day as general?
Then there is the issue of "holiday". How many people would take off Monday, so could have a 4 day weekend?
"only mail ins are military." Implies you either don't know that a lot of other important jobs are done by people that can't get home, or you prefer working class don't vote. (Once I had to stand in a unexpected line to vote early. Bunch of power company workers had been called to head south, responding to a hurricane. Should their voices not count?)

Last election I worked, there where several issues on the ballot, plus the mid-terms. We had a limited number of places for people to mark ballot, so I kind of watched the time each voter was taking between check in, and dropping ballot in box. Could tell, some knew who where going to vote for, had studied the issues on sample ballot, would mark the whole thing in less than 10 minutes. Others, where surprised by the issues, and local candidates that had not been called evil by ads (no party affiliation on ballot in local races) The ones that take citizenship duties seriously might take over 45 minutes reading, researching with phone, and marking. Then there was a 3rd group; Ads had told them who was evil, so they could mark that part quickly, but the rest of the ballot? More than once we heard THEY EXPECT US TO READ ALL THIS SNOT? (Insert more health word) I feel the third group would rather be ruled than represented, if required any work on their part. But don't think the other 2 groups would vote much different if where mailing it in.
Walaby
Explorer II
Feb 18, 2023
I think in order to vote in local and state elections (including Senator/Congressmen), then one should have a stick and brick residence in the state and community. Why should someone who only cares about not paying state income tax and pay for cheap motor vehicle registration get to help decide local and state issues and vote for representatives?

As retired military, I agree military members should always have the opportunity to vote absentee. I also feel there are probably other legitimate reasons for someone to need to vote absentee. If you're a full timer, Im fairly certain you can plan ahead to return to your state of residence and cast a vote every couple of years. But if someone is too lazy to vote in person every two years, then they are probably too lazy to research the issues.

There's also no real rationale in my opinion, for not being able to have a state issued license. Sorry, but a state college ID is issued by the college, not the state. And maybe Im wrong, but I don't think there's a citizenship check to issue a college ID. At least my granddaughter never had to prove citizenship to get her state college issued ID. It's really not too much to ask that we have provisions to ensure only US citizens get to vote in our elections.

I also love how, when there is a case of voter fraud, dead people voting etc, one of the first comments that are always uttered is "it wasn't enough to change the election". That's not the point. The only way to protect against voter fraud is to publicize it when it happens, punish those who commit it, and take steps to help keep it from happening again.

Mike
ferndaleflyer
Explorer III
Feb 18, 2023
Make Election Day a national holiday, only day to vote, only mail ins are military. Do away with all the other BS. Vote at your REAL home. Full timers show up where you “call” home to vote register your vehicles, get drivers license, etc like I do.
Grit_dog
Navigator
Feb 18, 2023
^Perzactly!