NORTHEAST OHIO COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS CONTINUES TO PROVIDE VOTER REGISTRATION TO PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS.
On September 25, National Voter Registration Day 2018. The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH), in partnership with Cleveland Votes, will make a strong push to register homeless voters before the November elections.
Since June, NEOCH has registered voters at over 30 locations. They have been to homeless shelters, drop in centers, and encampments around the city. The goal for NEOCH’s National Voter Registration Day event is to make a strong final push to increase registrations of low income Americans and encourage participation in the election process.
According to Joyce Robinson from NEOCH, “Low-income and un-housed populations in our community face barriers that prevent them from registering to vote and getting to the polls. NEOCH wants to work with them to break down some of these barriers and empower people to cast their ballot in November. The right to vote should not distinguish between rich and poor.”
In January, NEOCH was a plaintiff in the Ohio purge case - Husted v. APRI - which the U.S. Supreme Court decided, in a 5-4 ruling, in favor of Ohio voter purge practice that removes infrequent voters from the registration rolls. “Countless voters, including homeless and housing-insecure Ohioans, have already been stripped of their rights as a result of Ohio’s unjust and illogical purge process. We are starting right now to make an extra effort to registering voters to make sure our people are ready to cast a ballot in November and in all future elections,” said Chris Knestrick, executive director, Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH).
A cook out will be held on Tuesday, September 25, 2018, at a place people experiencing homelessness call “The Drop” from 10:00a.m. to 2:00 p.m. 4241 Lorain Ave. Cleveland Ohio 44113. This event is part of a massive 50-state effort to register thousands of voters.
As a nonpartisan unofficial national holiday, National Voter Registration Day counts on thousands of partners and volunteers across the political spectrum. Started in 2012 for the presidential election, National Voter Registration Day is designed to create an annual moment when the entire nation focuses on registering Americans to exercise their most basic right – the right to vote.
Cleveland VOTES is a nonpartisan initiative of Cleveland Neighborhood Progress working to support and evaluate strategic equitable civic engagement of nonprofit entities conducting voter registration and outreach in Northeast Ohio. The initiative is seeking to invest in entities working to expand voter registration, accessibility and participation by integrating the practice of equitable civic engagement through the success and measurable outreach efforts of its grantees.
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