So I recently got my local driver’s license. That is a bigger deal than you might think it to be, as there are three things I had to prove to get one:
Thing 1 – that I know how to drive. No problem, my prior-state DL proves that.
Thing 2 – that I am who I say I am. No problem, my passport proves that.
Thing 3 – that I live where I say I live. This requires at least two of the following:
- A utility bill referencing the service address (until I got the fiber internet service a few weeks ago, I had NO utility bills referencing the address – the only bill I had was for cell phone and it was simply addressed to my PO Box, no mention of a street address at all — and the internet service bill hasn’t come yet, so it’s of no help to me)
- An insurance policy referencing the address – this I have, for my car. I was able to convince my insurer that my address was real and they put it on the policy. Okay. That’s one.
- A lease, deed, or mortgage. Nope, don’t have any of that. I have an oral agreement with my friend who owns the property that I may live here. I suppose we could write up a perfunctory lease for this exact purpose, but we haven’t.
- Tax records showing this is my address. Until I got my W2 just a couple of weeks ago, I had no such records, either. Had I wanted to do this any earlier (I did), I was out of luck. I actually wrote to the DOT asking what to do when one doesn’t have all the documents they want… and they wrote back quoting me the boilerplate that says what documents I need to have. Not helpful. So I had to wait til I had the W2.
- Someone who DOES have these kinds of records who also lives with me and can sign an affidavit about that. Nope, I live alone.
But getting my W2 and my car insurance to both have my new address on them was good enough for the department of transportation and lo & behold, a local driver’s license with my real address on it! Huzzah! This should also help with any other needing-to-prove-my-address issues going forward.
In the process of getting the DL, I also registered to vote locally. Easy. I had already proved all the things, so they just made an extra copy of it and sent it to the relevant state office.
Two weeks later, I get a letter, addressed to me here, that says my address is not known to the elections office and that I need to provide them with a valid address. Let that sink in for a sec. They sent me a letter to an address they didn’t believe is valid… asking me for a valid address. Now, if the address truly weren’t valid, that’s a pretty ridiculous thing to do. And if the address were valid to the point of expecting the letter to arrive, why would they send me a letter to that address stating the contrary? Right. Worse yet, the letter actually referenced my DL by number, which has the address printed right on it, should they care to actually look it up.
What to do? Well, I print out another copy of the “congratulations, you have a newly named road” document, a scan of my driver’s license, and a quick cover letter stating that (a) I hade proven my address to the satisfaction of the DOT, so clearly it exists, (b) see, the DL shows it, (c) here’s a document from the county planning office giving authority to the name and mailed it all back. I noted with bemusement that the planning office is in the same building as the elections office. They’re all in the county HQ. I have never actually been to that building but I have been around and I know this county isn’t especially big, so the admin building can’t be all that big, either. For all I know, the clerk in the elections office has lunch with my guy in the planning office!
I wonder what will happen next…