Suppose for a moment we stop thinking of homeless people as objects of pity and contempt and start thinking of them as a voting block Alice Marshall Follow Feb 18, 2019 · 2 min read

Yeah, changes one’s perspective mighty quick. This is a perfect example of why I devoted so much of my book to voter registration.

It would be really nice if Food Not Bombs and other groups that feed homeless people put a note like this their lunch bags:

Homeless people have the right to vote If you are staying at a shelter, you can use the shelter’s address as your home address. Alternatively you may denote a street corner or park as your residence. You may register at the [address of the voter registrar].

You could put a mail in voter registration application in their lunch bag, but the problem with that is that these days state’s want citizens to send them a copy of their ID and homeless people do not have access to a copier.

However, homeless daycare centers DO have copiers and computers. They can and must encourage their clients to register to vote. In all the online voter registration systems with which I am familiar, you go through the whole process and then you are asked to print out the form and sign it. Clearly you need access to a printer to do this. Homeless daycare centers can accommodate this. If you are not encouraging your clients to exercise their right to vote, you are no advocate for the homeless.

Another barrier to voting is lack of proper ID. Homeless daycare centers and shelters should assist clients with obtaining birth certificates and any other documents necessary to secure proper ID. If you are not doing this, you are no advocate for the homeless. True it is expensive, you will have to develop a special fundraising campaign to explain to your donors why this is an essential service to the homeless.

The sickening fact is that the burden of lifting oppression always falls on the shoulders of the oppressed. In a voting booth there is no distinction between a billionaire and a homeless citizen. If they all vote we can change the priorities of our country.

Give a person a fish, and they will eat for one day, give them the ballot and they will vote themselves a job.