VotingFollow

You're not allowed to vote in your old precinct if you've changed residences. Contact your county office and ask them if you can still register. Otherwise, you may be able to vote via a provisional ballot.

It matters in that you're obligated to vote in your current precinct.

You could vote in your old precinct and almost certainly get away with it but you'd still be committing fraud. You need to get a provisional ballot which is just a ballot saying you're legally registered to vote but your information is not up to date.

But rules are different from state to state. I still say to contact the county office and ask them. I'm going off of my training as a poll judge here in Illinois.

I have a question about voting too. This isn't going to happen for me, but hypothetically: I voted absentee two or three weeks ago. Say that before the election, I moved to Massachusetts (which again, isn't going to happen). If that were to happen, am I supposed to contact someone and tell them I've moved and they should toss my ballot or what? Or is it just one of those things that is in good faith and you let it go?

Nexa

I would imagine that if you moved to another state so close to the election, they wouldn't let you vote there because the cut off to register would've happened.

Here in Tennessee, if you moved or had to register for the first time, the cut off date is 30 days prior to the election. If you aren't registered by then, I think you're out of luck. Perhaps that's to stave off situations like you just described, I don't know.

Oh, my mistake.

I couldn't tell you, then. Maybe Joph knows.

Geeze, thanks Joph. I feel better now.

Nexa

What's new?

Not legally (again, at least not in IL). When you go to vote, you sign a slip certifying that you are legally registered to vote at the listed address and that you are qualified to vote. If you no longer live at that that address, you're not qualified to vote there.

In Illinois, people who have moved within their precinct in the last 27 days or outside of their precinct in the last 30 days are qualified to vote a provisional ballot. You are not qualified to vote using your registration with the wrong address listed.

If you moved more than 30 days ago and never changed your registration, you may still vote but you are restricted to voting a "Federal" ballot. Federal ballots only contain options to vote for federal offices and don't allow you to vote for state offices, local referendums, etc.

All of this is straight from the Illinois Election Judge manual which is open in front of me. Your mileage may vary from state to state. Call your county clerk to be absolutely sure.

Katie almost certainly could get away with voting in her old precinct using her old information. She'd be breaking the law to do it but I very much doubt that she'd be caught or that anything would happen beyond invalidating her ballot.

Well, in regards to voting and the like, if you are in the military wherever your state residence is, is where you cast your absentee ballot.

Case in point, I live in Milwaukee, WI, however I kept my residence in FL so I don't have to pay state income taxes, so, I cast/send my absentee ballot to Pasco County.