Makenzie Huber reports that South Dakota has deemed over 1,500 people local nobodies by moving them to the new “federal-only” voter status for registering to vote at a mail forwarding service or post office box with no evidence of actually living in South Dakota or, in fewer cases, failing to prove they are U.S. citizens. One tax-dodging RVer placed on federal-only status (while her copilot husband, who hasn’t updated his registration, remains on the state and local voting rolls) says that’s not fair:
Janet Suffel… and her husband, originally from Virginia, chose South Dakota for its lack of income tax and personal property taxes. The 64-year-old last visited three years ago but has paid fees and taxes in South Dakota when renewing her license and registration.
“I’m not driving on the roads, I’m not using any local services, I’m not using Medicaid, and I’m providing jobs for people at America’s Mailbox by using that service,” Suffel said, referencing the Box Elder-based mail forwarding company. “South Dakota is getting something for nothing.”
“I think, at the very least,” Suffel added, “we ought to have a say at the state level about who is going to decide on whether we can vote only in federal or state races” [Makenzie Huber, “New Laws Result in 1,500 Federal-Only Voter Registrations Ahead of South Dakota Primary Election,” South Dakota Searchlight, 2026.05.12].
250 years ago, we birthed this nation with the cry, No Taxation Without Representation! But if you chose to evade taxation, can you really complain if you’re denied the chance to choose your representation?