Voting While Homeless GETTING A HOME OF HER OWN meant more than having four walls and a roof to protect Sondra Jeffries from the weather. Jeffries was homeless in Denver for seven years before she The missing time, news and money to cast a ballot while unhoused Story by Robert Davis got a housing voucher from the Denver Department of Housing Stability. She now lives in Croft Apartments in southeast Denver. While she no longer worries about freezing to death on Denver’s streets during the winter, Jeffries now has grander plans in mind — she says she will vote in the November election. That’s a big change for Jeffries, who told Denver VOICE in an interview that voting while experiencing homelessness is excruciatingly difficult. “If there was a voting station by one of the nonprofit shelters or just downtown somewhere and I was brought there, and I had an idea, I would have voted,” Jeffries said. “If I could access it or I had seen it, yes, I would have voted.” Voting is about more than choosing between political candidates. It is a means of participating in a community, and electing representatives who embody a voter’s values. Voting also gives people who are homeless a voice in policy decisions about affordable housing, health care access and social safetynet programs. But voting also presents a Catch-22 for the unhoused. Voting can be a time-consuming activity that requires people who are homeless to divert time away from finding food, work, participating in services and connecting with friends and loved ones. Meeting these basic needs often outweighs the civic duty of voting. Jeffries explained that there were several factors that prevented her from voting while she was homeless, like the burdensome costs of travel to go cast a ballot. Jeffries also said she did not have regular access to information about the candidates to make an informed decision. She also couldn’t get mail or access the voting booth on more than one occasion because she had her identification taken from her while she lived unsheltered. “There were just too many barriers that got in the way of my ability to vote,” Jeffries said. Jeffries’ experience also reveals a truth that has been percolating across the United States. for several years: It’s hard to care about a lofty idea like Democracy when someone has no idea where they’re going to sleep or when they can eat their next meal. Data from the Denver Elections Division supports that claim. About one in five people who are homeless and registered to vote participate in any election. That figure includes people who registered to vote using the address of a local homeless shelter. The economic pinch Denverites are feeling from the rising cost of living correlates with declining voter participation rates more broadly in local elections. More than 186,000 ballots were cast in the 2019 municipal general election, representing about 46% of all possible ballots, compared to 175,515 ballots, representing 39% of the total, cast in the 2023 election. That happened at a time when the cost of living in the Denver metro area increased by roughly 20% between 2019 and 2023, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The federal government has sought to create new barriers that would make it more difficult for people like Jeffries to vote. For instance, President Donald Trump’s administration has sought to eliminate mail-in ballots, which people who are homeless often use. The administration also has sought to implement new rules prohibiting organizations such as homeless shelters and senior living facilities from assisting with mail-in ballots or transporting people to polling locations. Helping people who are homeless access the voting booth could have a significant impact on public policies that address homelessness, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. “From the ballot box to the halls of Congress, people experiencing homelessness deserve a say in the policies that affect their lives,” NLIHC explains. “Our policies are stronger when they are shaped by directly impacted communities and elected leaders who represent their interests.” Denver VOICE vendor Sondra Jeffries often contributes columns to the Denver VOICE. Photo by Giles Clasen DENVER VOICE FEATURE 9
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