[wmkn]

> There's no common official record on where someone lives in the US

When a US colleague transferred from our US office to our European office they were surprised and a little shocked that they were required to register their address with the local authorities. They felt that the government had no right to know where they lived.

For me, as a European, I was quite surprised about the opposite. How is it possible to have a functioning government without proper records about who lives where?

Only after the realization that the US does not keep records about who lives where did things like voter registration make sense to me.