CLEVELAND, Tenn. — The Bradley County Election Commission has negotiated a settlement ending a lawsuit brought by three people who said their right to vote was taken away because they live in recreational vehicles.

Bradley County Attorney Joe Byrd said the agreement was reached between himself and representatives of Ron and Leone Teel and Tom Layton, full-time RV residents who used a mail-forwarding business as their home address.

Bradley Election Commission Chairwoman Mary Francis Armstrong said, “Our mission is to make it possible for every eligible voter to be able to vote.”

The Election Commission purged 286 RV registrants from Bradley County’s voter rolls in 2006 because of a change in state law that a business address could not be used to establish residency. Many of those are on the rolls again by using a local RV campground address, commissioners said.

The Teels and Mr. Layton, joined by the American Civil Liberties Union, filed a lawsuit against the county that was dismissed in U.S. District Court in February. The court ruled the county did not violate their right to vote or travel, but the ACLU and Bradley election officials continued negotiations.

The settlement announced Tuesday allows the RV residents to vote, based on an affidavit from the property owner, Mr. Byrd told election commissioners. But he stressed future applications cannot be based on an affidavit from the owner.

The Election Commission voted unanimously to accept the recommended settlement and authorized Mr. Byrd to send a letter to the ACLU.

The ACLU issued a statement Wednesday morning.

“We are delighted that this novel issue was resolved in time for our clients to vote in this historic election,” Tricia Herzfeld, a staff attorney, said in the news release.

In other pre-election business before the Bradley County Election Commission, members expressed concern about the number of Election Day workers who did not cast ballots themselves in the August general election. Commissioners said they encourage each election worker to vote and set a good example.

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