Nonpartisan campaign aims to close voter turnout gap and build political will for housing justice
Washington, D.C. – NLIHC’s Our Homes, Our Votes campaign is a nonpartisan initiative to boost voter turnout among low-income people and elevate housing as an election issue. Because low-income renters disproportionately face barriers to voting, including deliberate voter suppression tactics that target communities of color, low-income renters are significantly less likely to cast their ballots than high-income homeowners. When low-income renters are underrepresented in the democratic process, elected officials are less likely to enact policies that serve their communities. The campaign strives to close this voter turnout gap and build the political will for housing justice. During the 2024 election cycle, the Our Homes, Our Votes campaign is expanding and amplifying its activities to empower NLIHC partners to register, educate, and mobilize voters in their communities.
“Affordable homes are built with ballots every bit as much as they are built with bricks and drywall,” said NLIHC President and CEO Diane Yentel. “To build the political will for housing solutions, renters and advocates must demonstrate power as a significant voting bloc. However, the same communities that face the greatest barriers to securing stable, accessible, affordable housing also face the greatest barriers to voting. In 2024, Our Homes, Our Votes is taking a number of new steps towards ensuring that the lowest-income voters can make their voices heard at the polls.”
As part of its effort to raise the profile of housing as an election issue and make candidates prioritize the needs of the lowest-income renters, the Our Homes, Our Votes: 2024 campaign today sent identical, nonpartisan letters to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Republican National Committee (RNC) leadership, urging each party to make the housing needs of the lowest-income renters a central pillar of its 2024 platform.
The campaign has also launched a 2024 Pilot Communities initiative to increase its partners’ capacity to engage low-income renters in every step of the electoral process and increase understanding of the impact of nonpartisan voter engagement activities. Pilot communities receive grant funding, technical assistance, and other resources to support nonpartisan voter registration, education, and mobilization activities conducted in partnership with subsidized housing providers. Data collection and evaluation from the Pilot Communities initiative will enable Our Homes, Our Votes to identify best practices in nonpartisan voter engagement and maximize the effectiveness of resources and recommendations in future election cycles.
Our Homes, Our Votes: 2024 has also unveiled a number of enhanced resources and tools in anticipation of the 2024 election season. The campaign launched its TurboVote platform, a one-stop shop where voters can register to vote, check their registration status, sign up for election reminders, and find nonpartisan election information for their communities. Available in both Spanish and English, TurboVote provides a seamless voter registration experience that empowers voters to participate in elections at every level.
Likewise, Our Homes, Our Votes: 2024 is running a webinar series connecting housing advocates, tenant leaders, subsidized housing providers, and direct services organizations with national leaders in nonpartisan election work. And the campaign has released a resource library with templates, toolkits, and factsheets that organizations can use to plan and carry out their nonpartisan election work.
The campaign also includes several initiatives focused on building knowledge and information about election efforts. To track and analyze housing and homelessness ballot measures, for example, the campaign will release a post-election report that summarizes the outcomes of housing-related ballot measure campaigns in the 2024 election cycle. Similarly, the campaign recently published a new clearinghouse of reports, webinars, and articles on housing-related ballot measures.
“Housing is always on the ballot, and it’s critical that those most directly affected by our nation’s housing crisis can make their voices heard,” said Courtney Cooperman, project manager of the Our Homes, Our Votes campaign. “Nonpartisan civic engagement isn’t just something we do during presidential election years – it’s an essential part of our mission at NLIHC. Housing advocates, tenant leaders, housing providers, and other partners in the housing and homelessness field are in a strong position to help low-income people overcome systemic barriers and exercise their right to vote. We’re excited to take this work to the next level and make strides towards closing the voter turnout gap in the 2024 election cycle.”
Learn more about Our Homes, Our Votes: 2024 at: ourhomes-ourvotes.org