Advocates, service providers, and people with lived experience of homelessness are working hard to close the voter turnout gap and empower unhoused voters to participate in the 2024 elections. Despite these efforts, many unhoused voters still face barriers to casting their ballots. States have a patchwork of policies and procedures for voting without a permanent address, and some states make the process more complex and burdensome than others. Federal policy changes are necessary to make voting fully accessible for unhoused people.
A bill introduced in 2023 by Representative Nikema Williams (D-GA-05) and Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), the “Unhoused Voter Opportunity through Elections Act” (known as the “Unhoused VOTE Act” (H.R. 5294/S. 2971)), would affirm that no person may be denied the right to vote because they do not have a traditional home. Representative Williams introduced the bill on the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, a pivotal event in the 1960s-era Civil Rights Movement that resulted in landmark voting rights and fair housing laws. Ensuring that all unhoused voters have fair and equal access to the democratic process is part of the unfinished business of the Civil Rights Movement.
The “Unhoused VOTE Act” contains a range of provisions that would make voting and registration more readily accessible to people experiencing homelessness. The bill would direct election officials to consult with homeless services providers when determining the location of ballot drop-boxes. The bill would also require emergency shelters to distribute voter registration forms, offer assistance with voter registration applications, and send completed voter registration forms to state election officials.
The “Unhoused VOTE Act” would make it easier for unhoused voters to prove their eligibility by allowing them to attest to their residence in writing, under penalty of perjury, and to treat any documents issued by the criminal-legal system as an acceptable form of voter ID. The bill also requires that election officials provide clear online information about voting while experiencing homelessness and proactively reach out to shelters with information about voter registration deadlines and election dates. To ensure that election officials are prepared to support unhoused voters, the bill directs the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) and U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) to develop best practices for election officials. The bill also creates an EAC grant program to fund state and local government activities that facilitate unhoused citizens’ access to the ballot.
Taken together, the policy reforms included in the “Unhoused VOTE Act” would make the democratic process more inclusive of unhoused citizens and empower them to make their voices heard.