Get Out the Homeless Vote in ‘04

Shelter advocates and people experiencing homelessness will remember November 2, 2004, as an amazing and memorable day, during which over 1,400 people experiencing homelessness decided to go to the polls and vote.

As part of our “get out the vote” activities, we held “November 2″ celebration events at Branch III in Minneapolis and at Listening Housing in St. Paul. People experiencing homelessness packed the drop in centers all day. Many people voted for the first time.

In Minneapolis, County Commissioner Gail Dorfman stopped by to volunteer. She stayed for over an hour. Representatives from Estonia, Sweden, and elsewhere attended the event to observe our election process. Minneapolis Mayor R. T. Rybak also stopped by to address the crowd and to meet with people experiencing homelessness who had voted. Over 60 people experiencing homelessness talked personally with the mayor about homelessness.

In St. Paul, United States Congresswoman Betty McCollum stopped by. She had only planned to stay for a few minutes, but ended up staying for over an hour. During her visit, she met with dozens of people experiencing homelessness who shared their thoughts about ending homelessness and the importance of having people experiencing homelessness vote in the election.

Several stories follow recounting a few of the amazing experiences people had on Election Day:

• Pam (St. Paul). Pam could not vote this year because she was not yet “off paper,” but she REALLY wanted to. She spent many hours registering people around her to vote. She would say, “I can’t vote, but you can and should.” To educate her and other first-time voters she invited Rep. Betty McCollum to visit Listening House on Election Day. Betty came to Listening House on Election Day and visited with guests for over an hour. Pam also invited representatives from the Bush/Cheney and Kerry/Edwards campaigns to meet with people. And, one of the campaigns sent a representative!!
• Liz (St. Paul). Liz lives in permanent supportive housing in St. Paul. Before this year’s election she said that she had never really cared about politics. Liz decided she wanted to make a difference in 2004. So she committed herself to registering people experiencing homelessness. Her efforts resulted in over 200 people experiencing homelessness joining the voter registration rolls in St. Paul. More amazing, Liz decided to become an Election Judge and got to help many of the first-time voters from Dorothy Day vote on Election Day. She said it was an experience she will never forget.
• John (Minneapolis). John has cancer and is not expected to live much longer. He is only 45 years old. John has never voted before in his life. He was excited and proud that he was going to vote this time. He knew it was an important election. John proudly displayed his “I voted” sticker after successfully voting.
• Mitch (St. Paul). Mitch didn’t really know what he could do to make a difference. After several X Committee meetings, and because Mitch knew many of the people staying down at Dorothy Day Center, he decided to pre-register and agreed to “vouch” for them on Election Day, thereby making it possible for their voice to be heard. At one point on Election Day, Mitch said, “I know many of you. If I know you, and you are eligible to vote you have no reason not to. I don’t want to hear you complain any more if you won’t vote.” As a result of Mitch’s dedication, he help about 25 people vote on Election Day.
• Jim (St. Paul). Jim has an ex -felony on his record from New Mexico. He had been told several times that he could not vote. Several people experiencing homelessness who had learned about Minnesota Election law at the X Committee told him that, since he was off paper, he in fact was eligible to vote. Jim still did not believe them. He thought about it some more and demanded that he see it in writing. Thankfully, a pamphlet put out by the Minnesota Council on Crime and Justice was lying on the table. He looked at it and decided to give voting a try. When he showed up at the polling place, he insisted on quizzing the head election judge to make sure he was eligible to vote. After being reassured several times, Jim decided to vote. When he got back to Listening House, he proudly displayed his “I Voted” sticker.
• Larry (St. Paul). Larry was one of several people who had voted before and spent many hours explaining to people how voting was important and most of all easy. On the morning of Election Day he made sure that interested voters staying at Dorothy Day gathered in the Court Yard to go vote at 7:00 a.m. when the polls opened. Because of his efforts in the morning he made sure that over 30 people voted on Election Day.