General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums💥Information on Voting and Homelessness💥
Do you know anyone who has recently been displaced? Do you know someone who is working with the homeless and needs voting information for them? Maybe this can help.
https://www.nonprofitvote.org/voting-in-your-state/special-circumstances/voting-and-homelessness/
You Don't Need a Home to Vote - includes a table of State Voter Regulations starting on page 17.
https://nationalhomeless.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/2018-Manual_for-web.pdf
Do you know anyone who has recently been asking questions about voter registration? Regardless of your situation, have you checked your voter registration? It's easy. Do it!
Check your voter registration: https://www.usa.gov/confirm-voter-registration
Change your voter registration: https://www.usa.gov/change-voter-registration
Contact your state or local election office: https://www.usa.gov/election-office
https://www.governing.com/now/The-Homeless-Have-Voting-Rights-but-Face-Many-Hurdles.html
In some states, voters are not required to provide a permanent address or any address. They can simply list a landmark, such as an intersection. If they spend every night sleeping under the Joshua Chamberlain Bridge in Bangor, they can register to vote in that precinct, says Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap. We cannot turn down voter registration from those people because they dont have a fixed address.
Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia allow same-day registration, meaning people can register as late as Election Day, but Ohio voters must register 30 days ahead of an election. If they move during that last month, or start sleeping on someone elses couch, their registration is no longer valid.
If you move within that 30-day window prior to the actual election, you get into a more gray area, says Bill Faith, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio. Technically, you should vote at the address where you registered. If youre in limbo, the only thing you can do legally is cast a provisional ballot.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/08/an-eviction-wave-could-wreak-havoc-on-voting-by-mail/
For those who cant get a mail-in ballot and do choose to vote in person, a recent change in address should not prevent them from voting at the polls. In the District of Columbia and the 21 states that have same-day voter registration, a resident can register a new address at the polling place, even if its just a temporary place to stay, such as a friends house. People who have become homeless need not even list a permitted addressthey can list a cross street. The federal voter registration form, which voters can use to register in all but three US states, includes a blank map with a pair of unlabeled intersecting streets where voters can write in the street names of the crossroads nearest to where they are staying. In the states where same-day voter registration is not an option, residents can vote using their old address, provided it has been less than 30 days since they left.
The US Election Assistance Commission [https://www.eac.gov/] provides the National Voter Registration Application Form for U.S. Citizens (in 15 languages) with instructions, registration deadlines, and mailing address for each state: https://www.eac.gov/voters/national-mail-voter-registration-form
Again -- You Don't Need a Home to Vote - includes a table of State Voter Regulations starting on page 17.
https://nationalhomeless.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/2018-Manual_for-web.pdf
Pass it on.
SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)TY. Idon't know anyone, but will keep this handy!
PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,857 posts)Even the asshole states that require showing a photo ID at the polls, don't also ask for a recently mailed utility bill or some such to your address. If you still have valid ID you're golden.
I'm going to guess that the long term homeless rarely vote.