Full-time RV residents with ties to the state of Tennessee will be allowed to vote in the November presidential election, thanks to an agreement reached between the Tennessee chapter of the ACLU and Bradley County Election Commission.
Ron and Leone Teel and Tom Layton, who live full-time in their RVs, were among more than 250 full-time RVers who were purged from Tennessee voting rolls in 2006 based on a change in Tennessee law which prohibited people from using a commercial address to register to vote, according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
“We are delighted that this novel issue was resolved in time for our clients to vote in this historic election,” Tricia Herzfeld, ACLU-TN staff attorney, who represented the RVers, said in a statement.
In November 2007, the ACLU-TN filed a lawsuit in federal court, arguing that the 2006 law violated RVers equal protection and due process rights.
The court dismissed the case but acknowledged alternative ways for the Teels and Layton to restore their right to vote while maintaining their right to travel, the statement said.
After discussions with ACLU-TN, the Bradley County Election Commission agreed that the National Voter Registration Act allows the Teels and Layton to use the address of the parking lot of a mail forwarding service to register to vote.
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