Individuals experiencing homelessness often struggle to meet voter ID requirements, stay on voting rolls or get to polling locations, among other obstacles. Although 54 percent of all eligible voters turned out back in 2012, only about 10 percent of homeless citizens voted.
“If we could get that number up to 20 or 30 percent, it would make a big difference, especially with local elections,” said Donald Whitehead, the executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless. “When people are thinking about structuring voter rights laws, they should be thinking about every citizen, not just those who are affluent or who have means.”
Homelessness — and its associated challenges to voting — affects a growing population. The number of people experiencing homelessness in 2023 was the highest the Department of Housing and Urban Development has recorded since it began conducting annual point-in-time surveys in 2007.
Some jurisdictions have policies that have heightened the barriers people in homelessness face to voting. But others have been exploring ways to ease challenges. “States have been really creative and inventive about ways to address this issue,” says Steve Simon, Minnesota's secretary of state and president of the National Association of Secretaries of State.
Measures that make voting more accessible to people who are homeless can benefit others, including anyone who has trouble securing child or elder care, time off from work or transportation to the polls, as well as anyone who struggles to obtain documents showing a traditional address. “Talking about the challenges unhoused voters face exemplifies why it’s so important that states have safe, convenient, accessible voting for everyone,” says Andrew Garber, a voting rights counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice.
Providing an Address When You Don't Have One
One hurdle that homeless individuals face is the requirement in every state to provide a physical and mailing address when registering to vote. That makes sense on its face, since an address will determine which local races they can weigh in on.
Still, not all voters have a fixed street address or even an ID or other document showing proof of residence. While that includes those sleeping in shelters, in public parks or other makeshift locations, it also includes people who are housed but who have moved too recently to have utility bills at their new address. There are also people who live in areas that lack conventional street address grid systems, such as tribal reservations, Simon says.
Federal voter registration forms explicitly allow voters to give a physical description of where they sleep, whether that’s a street corner, park or other location, but voters using them must follow state-specific rules. About half the states allow voters to draw a map or diagram showing where they live, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
In Minnesota, certain verification precautions are taken when someone uses a nontraditional address. The state uses a “vouching” system, under which such voters must come to the polls accompanied by a registered voter from their precinct who will swear, under penalty of perjury, that the person lives where they claim. And the voters must still provide some form of documentation verifying their identity, even if it’s just a high school ID or an expired ID.
Getting and Keeping IDs
Some states that require IDs for in-person voting will allow people who lack them to vote, as long as they sign affidavits. But others are stricter and will not count votes from anyone who lacked a qualifying ID on Election Day and failed to return with one within a few days. (Fourteen states and the District of Columbia don’t require proof of ID to vote.)
Strict voter ID requirements can be tricky for those in unstable situations. Documents can be easily lost during moves, stolen at shelters or seized by police during encampment clearings. Some documents, such as Social Security cards, which are prohibited from being laminated, can get destroyed by rain when people sleep outside. Obtaining new IDs can also be difficult for those who struggle to secure necessary transit or money for fees.
Indiana provides voters who are indigent with an exemption from state photo ID requirements. Claiming this exemption, however, may require securing reliable transportation, because individuals have to visit county election offices within a certain time frame to affirm they merit the exemption.
One helpful approach states could take would be allowing library cards or benefits cards to serve as identification, which are easier to get and replace than state-issued IDs, suggests Whitehead, of the National Coalition for the Homeless.
Mail Voting and Logistics
Early-voting options can help by granting more options and flexibility. More convenient polling locations are useful too. For example, some jurisdictions put polling spots at food banks, social services centers, libraries and similar areas, Simon says. Some states also have a “vote center” model, which allows people flexibility to cast ballots at any of several different locations rather than only at one specific, designated polling site.
Absentee or mail ballots help by getting rid of transportation requirements, while also relieving time constraints for people with jobs who have to hustle back to shelters to make 5 p.m. sign-in deadlines. But it can be hard to ensure ballots sent to shared homeless shelter mailboxes reach the right recipient. Voters who cannot reliably receive mail also have more difficulty receiving election updates — such as about changes in polling sites — or learning if they’re at risk of being removed from voting rolls.
In Oregon, which conducts its elections wholly by mail, people without home addresses or reliable mail service can receive ballots at locations they frequent such as shelters and food banks, according to Laura Kerns, communications director for Oregon's secretary of state. They can also pick up ballots at the county election’s office.
Other states are less flexible. Georgia, for example, requires all unhoused people to use the county registrar’s office as their mailing and registration address. But county registrar offices aren’t set up to distribute mail, so voters must regularly travel to the site to check for important election messages or risk missing them.
Showing Up to Vote
Homeless citizens can face difficulty with election workers who are uncertain about how to handle voters registered at nontraditional addresses. Workers might ask would-be voters to come back later, which can discourage them from finishing the process.
Simon says his state ensures poll workers are trained on how to accommodate voters experiencing homelessness. Most, but not all, states require poll workers to undergo training, with Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Utah among the exceptions, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Confusion isn’t the only issue — discrimination can arise, too. People living without homes aren't always able to show up with the best hygiene or appearance. “People are sometimes turned away because of how they appear,” Whitehead says.
People experiencing homelessness may not themselves realize they meet voter eligibility requirements. They may be unaware of options available to them, including the ability in some jurisdictions to use a shelter as their address. For those with criminal records, misinformation about being able to get re-enfranchised can be another obstacle.
Other times, the challenges of simply getting by can make voting feel like a lower priority. “If you're struggling — like 99 percent of people who are experiencing homelessness — they may not feel that voting makes a difference for them, so you do have that level of apathy as well,” Whitehead says.
