It’s Hard to Vote in California When You’re Homeless: Why It Matters When Unsheltered Voices Are Silenced

Ciara Lambright has a lot to worry about: Staying safe while living on the streets of San Francisco, trying to prevent people from stealing her belongings, and packing up her small cardboard bed before it gets swept away by police. 

The thought of voting this election is just too overwhelming.

“It’s just not top on my list right now,” said 33-year-old Lambright. 

Homelessness is arguably the biggest problem facing California today, it’s a top concern for voters and it’s on the ballot, either directly or indirectly, in nearly every city. 

But all too often, what homeless Californians, themselves, have to say about the issue isn’t getting heard. 

That’s because while eligible voters can still cast ballots if they are experiencing homelessness, they face a mountain of obstacles, according to elections officials, service providers and potential voters who live on the street. 

A growing homeless population

California’s homeless population has ballooned to nearly 186,000 people this year, so that means one part of the electorate is potentially not taking part in democracy this election. Experts say that’s cause for concern, as many contests — statewide rent control and criminal justice reform propositions, local mayoral races and more — could directly affect unhoused residents.

“Their lives are the central topic of political conversation, and it’s a conversation that they are often left out of,” said Niki Jones, executive director of the Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness.

There are some efforts underway, both by counties and by local nonprofits, to boost voting among unhoused communities. But those attempts are far from universal. Of 15 unhoused residents interviewed this month by CalMatters in three cities, just three planned to vote and knew how to do so this election. 

Tyneeka Bland, a 42-year-old Modesto native who moved to Sacramento earlier this year, said she lived on the streets for two months and stayed at a shelter for another six before she finally found housing in Natomas last month. That prompted her to register to vote with her new address. She mailed in her ballot last Thursday, she said. 

But Bland said she missed the March primary when she was still unhoused, because she was unaware that she could vote even without a permanent address.

“I didn’t have no address, so how am I going to be able to vote? How am I going to be able to have a voice if I’m … not on the map somewhere?” Bland asked. 

Californians without a fixed address where ballots can be mailed can register to vote using the address of a shelter, or the cross street of the park, street or sidewalk where they spend the night. They can use a P.O. box or business address to receive mail, but not to register.

Voters without a way to get a mail-in ballot have to go to a polling place in person. That can be difficult for reasons including lack of transportation, fear that their belongings will be stolen if they leave their campsite, limited access to voting information, and many other pressing needs facing unhoused people.

How many unhoused residents actually vote?

Only about 10% of homeless Americans vote each year, according to a 2012 report by the National Coalition for the Homeless.

“When you are not sure where your next meal is coming from, and you’re having to think about where you’re going to sleep tonight, that makes it very difficult to remember that it’s also voting day,” Jones said. 

It’s also more difficult to stay informed about elections when you’re living on the street. Housed Californians get bombarded by political ads on TV, hear reporters discuss ballot measures on the radio and see campaign mailers flood their mailboxes. Homeless Californians without a TV, consistent access to the internet or radio and no mailing address often are left in the dark. 

The news that Oakland’s mayor is facing a recall election this year didn’t make it to 63-year-old Ashby Dancy, who was hanging out with two friends at a small tent encampment in East Oakland on a recent afternoon. 

Reasons not to vote

Ajda Latimer, who lives in an RV in West Oakland with her two dogs, Damien and Angel, thought she was barred from voting because she doesn’t have an address. When a reporter told her she could vote anyway, she said she’ll try to cast a ballot.

“It does matter to me,” she said. 

Some unhoused Californians CalMatters spoke with mistakenly believed their prior felony convictions prevent them from voting. People with a felony conviction can vote in California, as long as they aren’t currently serving time for that offense. 

Others are disheartened by a political system that they say never seems to take people living on the street into consideration. Donald Trump or Kamala Harris for president? It doesn’t really matter to 52-year-old Linda Vazquez, who sleeps outside in San Francisco. 

“Neither one of them is doing anything that’s going to work for us,” she said. 

Melanie Mercado, who said she has lived on the streets in Sacramento for more than a decade, told CalMatters she only voted once in her life — for Barack Obama. But, Mercado said, she has no trust in the government in part because she lost custody to her daughter in a court fight, in which she saw a system “conspiring against” her.

“I don’t think that voting helps decide your own fate,” Mercado said. “How many rulers of the environment do you need?”

In Sacramento, the Regional Coalition to End Homelessness is partnering with Sacramento State University to help encourage more unhoused people to vote. Using a $7,500 grant from the Robert Nelson Foundation, they have been hosting voter registration ice cream socials at homeless shelters, transitional housing sites and outside the county jail. 

About 150 people had shown up to their events as of mid-October, and 30 of those had registered to vote, Jones said. Those who already are registered get information about what’s on the ballot and where to vote. Outreach workers help people make a plan to vote, such as choosing a “voting buddy” who can help remind them to vote and hold them accountable to actually cast their ballot. 

Sacramento County also is trying to bridge the gap by hosting voter registration drives at local homeless shelters and affordable housing developments. In addition to registering people to vote (they got 14 new registrants at one event in mid-October) county staff hand out fliers with information about where to vote, and tell people how to access the county’s online voter information guide, said county spokesperson Ken Casparis. 

Sometimes people have to re-register, because if their ballot gets mailed to their old address and returned as undeliverable, their voting status changes to “inactive,” Casparis said.

“It is a process,” he said, “but we do do our best to get out there and do as much outreach to that community as we can.” 

There are a little more than 600 homeless registered voters in Sacramento County, Casparis said. But the county doesn’t know how many of them end up voting.

There are more than 6,600 homeless people living in Sacramento County, according to the latest point-in-time count. That means about 9% of all unhoused Sacramento residents are registered to vote. Among the general population, nearly 79% of eligible residents were registered as of last year, according to the Secretary of State’s office.

San Diego County doesn’t track homeless voters

Not every county tracks those numbers. San Diego County, for example, has no way of tracking how many of its homeless residents register to vote or vote, according to Antonia Hutzell, a spokesperson for the registrar of voters. 

Alliance San Diego, a community organization, has been distributing voter guides to local homeless shelters to boost voter turnout, said executive director Andrea Guerrero. The organization also is reaching unhoused people via Facebook, email and text messages.

But for someone like 39-year-old Nanie Crossman, who lives in an RV parked on the street in West Oakland, voting isn’t as easy as simply looking up her polling place, and then going there.

First, she would have to find a place to shower and a clean change of clothes. Otherwise, her presence might garner nasty looks from the other voters, Crossman said. 

Will she end up voting, come Election Day? It depends on her mood, Crossman said. 

“Plans are hard to keep out here,” she said. “If you make plans, something will happen.”

Marisa Kendall covers California’s homelessness crisis for CalMatters.