Press Release: Homeless People Do Vote!

Event at Ohio’s Largest Shelter to Urge Participation

      The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless is hosting an event on Tuesday September 23 at 7 p.m. at 2100 Lakeside Shelter to rally homeless voters to register and then to vote this fall.  Those living in a shelter or on the streets still have a right to participate in electing the people who will provide leadership out of this housing crisis.  September 23 is National Voter Registration Day and to celebrate we are bringing politicians and community leaders together to motivate homeless people to participate. 

     NEOCH is partnering with Ohio’s largest shelter, LMM’s 2100 Lakeside Shelter, to work to register everyone in the building on Tuesday evening.  We will have volunteers on site to assist homeless people with changing their address or registering to vote in the upcoming November election.  “Of all the people in our community, people struggling with housing and regular income need to add their voice to the democratic process,” said Ken Payton of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless.  Payton is staff at the agency working every day to register homeless people to vote by going to shelters and calling shelter directors urging them to help their clients to vote. 

      We will have Natoya Walker Minor representing the Mayor of Cleveland and tentatively will have State Representative Mike Foley and County Councilmember Dale Miller saying a few words at the event on September 23 at 7 p.m. at 2100 Lakeside Shelter.   We hope to have a Cleveland City Council member talking about how important it is to vote.   We hope that these community leaders will talk about how politicians pay attention to communities that vote.
        We have seen many changes in voting laws over the last year and many voters may be confused about their options.  NEOCH urges homeless people to utilize early in person voting as the best option.  We are especially pleased that a federal judge has restored the week in which homeless people can vote and change their registration at the same time.  We are also encouraged that we will have evening and weekend hours when it is convenient for the many full time workers living in the shelters to not have to miss work in order to vote.  NEOCH is working to register homeless people and will help those living in the shelters or on the streets over to the Board of Elections to vote.

Click on the Vote Button on the NEOCH website for more information on homeless voting.