You don't need a home to vote

On a rainy Friday in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, a group of people huddle under the protection of a covered area outside a church doorway.

Flecks of rain still cling to their hair. Some simply stand there looking weary next to their bags, some chat quietly with the people beside them.

They’re all waiting for the doors to open so they can get inside, get a free meal, and maybe pick up some free bread, bananas, toilet paper and soap.

Inside the doorway, a small group of volunteers with the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness are hoping they can convince the people lined up outside to partake in another service – voter registration.

“A lot of people think they might not be able to register without an address,” said Hillary Coleman with the Coalition.

But Coleman said people don’t need a home to vote.

Voter registration forms do require a residential address. For thousands of people in Seattle and King County who are homeless that might seem like a barrier.

But Coleman said state law allows that address to be a shelter or even an intersection.

She said they’ve been helping people who are homeless register to vote for more than a decade.

Volunteers go to day centers, shelters and places serving free meals to let people know how they can sign up.

Once people know they can use the cross streets where they camp, or the shelter where they stay as their residential address, volunteers move on to working out the mailing address required for Washington’s vote by mail system.

Coleman said many people who are homeless already have a mailing address, and those who don’t can use multiple locations to receive mail.

"The Compass Center downtown is where about 5,000 people per year get mail and so that's a big address,” she said. Many day centers and overnight shelters will also serve as a mailing address for clients.

This year, Coleman said volunteers have signed up more than 90 people in Seattle and King County. She said they’ve also heard from a lot of people who said they were already registered.

The deadline for online or mail-in voter registration for November's election is Monday, October 8. But people can register to vote in person with election officials until October 29.

There are more than 12,000 people homeless in King County on any given night. The number of people sleeping outside in tents, vehicles and on the street is growing and outpaces the number of people in shelters. Coleman said more people have registered this year using intersections as their residential address.

Besides educating people about the kinds of addresses they can use, volunteers also remind people that a felony conviction no longer bars them from voting in Washington state. As long as someone is not currently incarcerated or reporting to the Department of Corrections they’re eligible, Coleman said.

She said it’s important for people to have the information that allows them to access their voting rights, regardless of their situation.

“We really see this as a way for people to be able to speak up and use their voice.”