Representatives Jesús “Chuy” García (D-IL), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA), and Nikema Williams (D-GA) reintroduced on November 21 the “Our Homes, Our Votes Act” (H.R. 10215). The bill would facilitate voter registration for residents of public and federally subsidized housing and add public housing agencies (PHAs) and HUD-assisted housing providers to the National Voter Registration Act, commonly known as the “Motor Voter Law.” This landmark law enables all eligible Americans to register or update their voter registration when they fill out paperwork at their motor vehicle authority. The “Our Homes, Our Votes Act” would provide similarly accessible voter registration opportunities to HUD residents when they sign their leases or verify their incomes.
Specifically, the bill would:
- Allow eligible and interested residents of PHA-assisted housing to simultaneously register to vote as they sign their leases or recertify their incomes, without providing duplicate information.
- Mandate timely transmission of completed voter registration forms.
- Require PHA staff and landlords to receive annual voter registration trainings.
- Ensure that PHAs and landlords provide language assistance to residents with limited English proficiency, in accordance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
- Include voter registration obligations in contracts between PHAs and landlords.
- Require that state election officials oversee PHAs’ and landlords’ compliance with the law and report on their activities to the Election Assistance Commission (EAC).
- Designate private owners of other federally subsidized housing programs as “voter registration agents” that will distribute voter registration forms and provide nonpartisan voter registration assistance to residents.
The “Our Homes, Our Votes Act” would build on HUD’s announcements to PHA directors and owners of HUD-subsidized properties that outline permissible nonpartisan voter engagement activities. The announcements remind PHAs and recipients of HUD funding that they are not only allowed, but are actively encouraged, to register and mobilize residents to vote.
By empowering their residents to vote, housing providers can play a pivotal role in closing the voter turnout gap between renters and homeowners. NLIHC’s nonpartisan Our Homes, Our Votes campaign convenes the Housing Providers Council, a group of developers, property managers, and resident services staff that are committed to increasing voter turnout in their properties. Some Housing Providers Council members are voluntarily implementing the voter registration procedures that the “Our Homes, Our Votes Act” would require.
“Too often, low-income renters face barriers to the ballot box, and as a result, they remain woefully underrepresented in our democracy,” said NLIHC President and CEO Diane Yentel in a press release about the bill. “By establishing a seamless voter registration process for residents of public and federally subsidized housing, the ‘Our Homes, Our Votes Act’ will empower the lowest-income renters to participate in elections and make their voices heard. I applaud Representatives Chuy Garcia, Nikema Williams, and Mary Gay Scanlon for their leadership on this innovative and common-sense proposal to make it easier for low-income renters to participate in the democratic process and have a say in the policies directly affecting their own lives.”
Representative Jesús “Chuy” García joined the final Our Homes, Our Votes: 2024 webinar on November 18 to preview the bill. The webinar recording can be found here.
NLIHC members and partner organizations are encouraged to support the “Our Homes, Our Votes Act.” If your organization would like to endorse the bill, please email Courtney Cooperman, project manager of Our Homes, Our Votes, at [email protected].
Read the full bill text here and a one-pager here.
Send a message to your members of Congress to request that they cosponsor the bill here.
Read a press release announcing the bill’s reintroduction here.