Help Homeless Americans Vote- Organize a Voter Registration Drive

Posted by
Carla Marie Boulianne
Nov 15, 2008

Did you know half of all homeless adults are employed but cannot afford rent? My mom always worked while we were homeless. She worked nights, holidays, and weekends. It was never enough to scrape up a first and last month's rent after feeding us. Many working Americans do not make a living wage. Many experience a job loss, medical emergency, divorce, or other acute crisis that leads to loss of a permanent residence. Many more families are one paycheck away from the streets.

Federal and state social services proved critical in getting my family off the street. I am the product of free and reduced lunches, Medicaid, food stamps, welfare checks, and Pell Grants. I went to college, graduated with honors, and earned a top spot in a prestigious graduate program working in an elite infectious disease laboratory. None of it would have been possible without government social services.

When it comes time to elect representatives protecting this critical social safety net, those that need it most rarely vote. Studies show that once registered, impoverished voters do turn out at about a 70% rate. Please participate in a voter registration drive assisting poor and homeless Americans.

Nothing makes me madder than hearing political scare tactics where one party decries voter registration drives or GOTV campaigns among the homeless as dirty politics. They insinuate that homeless Americans cannot or should not vote. Homeless Americans can vote; we have the moral obligation to help them.

Read more on my personal experience of childhood homelessness or the legal issues when registering homeless voters.