How the unhoused can have a say in the 2024 Election
According to a CalMatters report, close to 186,000 people in California are homeless while the state deals with a housing crisis.
Even though one may be unhoused and facing homelessness, it does not mean they don’t have a say in the 2024 elections.
It’s an issue that seems to be on the ballot every election season, dealing with the homeless crisis in the state.
A report from the National Coalition for the Homeless found that only 10 percent of homeless Americans vote in elections every year.
“Up to date for this election, we've actually register about ten people who are unhoused. We actually had one lady recently, we did a mobile trailer over at Jovenes de Antona, our senior center," San Benito County Registrar Francisco Diaz said. "And she was actually recently unhoused and she participated in that voting process.”
San Benito County says they've made strides to ensure voices of the homeless are heard.
“We have a mobile trailer that we're dispatching to various parts of the community so that we can go to them," Diaz said. "Second of all, we also have a ballot box drop box that's located next to a homeless shelter, a food bank, and next to Health and Human Services."
This allows those interested in voting to have a place to drop-off their ballot.
Yet, when it comes to voting, voters need an address to show they are a part of the county they are voting in. And without a permanent address, that could be difficult.
“Anybody that doesn't have a permanent address, ultimately, they just need to tell us where is it that they're sleeping most of the time," Diaz said. "They could also register here at the elections office and to receive a ballot, we can either deliberately deliver the ballot to general mail delivery to the post office.”
The voter can also stop by a voting center or come to the Office of Elections to vote.
Under the California Voting Rights, those that may have been convicted of a felony can still vote as long as they are not currently serving time for said offense.
