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People experiencing homelessness may not know that they can use a shelter address to register to vote.
With the presidential election just weeks away, Pine Street Inn has a message for people experiencing homelessness — your voice counts.
The Boston nonprofit shelter has been getting the word out to guests and tenants about their voting rights. For many people without a permanent address, there is confusion about whether the law allows them to register to vote. As a result, far fewer people without a permanent home cast their ballots in local and general elections.
According to the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, about 10 percent of the homeless population turn out to vote in presidential elections compared to about 60 percent of the general population. However, advocates for the homeless community want to change that.
“If you are 18 or older and an American citizen, you have the right to vote. Pine Street Inn guests may use their shelter address when they register. Make your voice heard,” the shelter wrote in a social media post on National Voter Registration Day.
About 19,000 people in Massachusetts are currently experiencing homelessness, according to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures. In Boston, about 5,700 people are currently without a home — a number that’s up by about 10 percent since last year.
Massachusetts state law says people who are U.S. citizens over the age of 18 can use a shelter address as their primary residence address when registering to vote. Anyone who has served a sentence for a felony may vote after they’re released from prison.
On Sept. 30, Pine Street Inn held a voter registration drive that offered lunch to attendees and shared resources about voters’ rights. The drive registered about 50 people to vote.
“We want all those voices expressing themselves at the polls in every election cycle,” Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said at the event.
Pine Street Inn President and Executive Director Lyndia Downie told the Boston Globe that their goal is not only to help register voters, but also to educate them about candidates and ballot questions. However, she told the outlet that the shelter doesn’t advise them on who they should vote for.
“They feel forgotten oftentimes, but this is one way for them to start to think about how they can have an impact. It’s one way to make their voices heard,” Downie said.
The deadline to register to vote is Oct. 26.
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