Should the homeless be allowed to vote?

[manifold]

Do you think homeless people should be allowed to vote?

My understanding is that currently they can't register, which means they can't vote. Do you think this is fair? Why?

 

[Silence]

this is a difficult question to answer.

Personally I think they shouldn't be allowed to vote. They aren't contributing members of society. They hold no job to speak of and clearly do not pay taxes so IMO they should not have a vote.

However, they are US citizens, many veterans who have served this country honorably so in that respect they should be entitled to a vote but they should also contribute to the communities that they live in...

 

[Ravi]

I think they should. Being homeless shouldn't remove the rights that everyone else enjoys.

 

[busara]

this is a difficult question to answer.

Personally I think they shouldn't be allowed to vote. They aren't contributing members of society. They hold no job to speak of and clearly do not pay taxes so IMO they should not have a vote.

However, they are US citizens, many veterans who have served this country honorably so in that respect they should be entitled to a vote but they should also contribute to the communities that they live in...

thats the key right there

 

[DiamondDave]

Interesting question....

IMHO voting should require proof of citizenship and place of residence... to show that you are qualified to vote in MD, for example, you need to show you actually indeed are a US and MD citizen.... if the homeless can show that, then by ALL MEANS let them vote... if not, then they don't meet voting criteria...

Without proof of who you are and what citizenry you have, there is too much room for corruption.. as we see with some organizations bussing homeless to key areas to vote.. or with some student organizations taking advantage of no-ID voter areas and going there to vote...

Any resident citizen should be allowed to vote... I know that there is a homeless shelter in the next town north of me that allows those who stay there to use that as a place of record/residence for people to register to vote... but I don't think that is common practice... and i really don't know if even that could be opened up for fraud

 

[Ravi]

DD, do you really think there are enough homeless people in the country to throw an election? If that's true, we have bigger things to worry about.

 

[Ravi]

They hold no job to speak of and clearly do not pay taxes so IMO they should not have a vote.

They do pay sales tax.

 

[CA95380]

Wow! All I can say to this one is Wow!

About one-third of the adult homeless population have served their country in the Armed Services. Current population estimates suggest that about 154,000 veterans (male and female) are homeless on any given night and perhaps twice as many experience homelessness at some point during the course of a year. Many other veterans are considered near homeless or at risk because of their poverty, lack of support from family and friends, and dismal living conditions in cheap hotels or in overcrowded or substandard housing.

Overview of Homelessness - Homeless Veterans

 

[DiamondDave]

DD, do you really think there are enough homeless people in the country to throw an election? If that's true, we have bigger things to worry about.

Ravi.. the loophole makes it more open for corruption... whack-job activists can claim to be homeless and vote numerous times in a closely contested area... and we're not just talking presidential election here... but in local elections where it is small numbers of votes determining the winner...

 

[DiamondDave]

They do pay sales tax.

So do tourists from Equador... does not mean they should vote, does it?

 

[Ravi]

Ravi.. the loophole makes it more open for corruption... whack-job activists can claim to be homeless and vote numerous times in a closely contested area... and we're not just talking presidential election here... but in local elections where it is small numbers of votes determining the winner...

Oh, I see what you are saying. I don't think there are that many whack job activists, either.

The again, Anne Coulter voted in the wrong precinct last time around.

 

[Ravi]

So do tourists from Equador... does not mean they should vote, does it?

I was just taking issue with her statement that they don't pay any taxes.

 

[Navy1960]

Committee for Dignity and Fairness for the Homeless v. Tartaglione, No. 84-3447 (E.D.Pa.) Sept. 14, 1984): This case provides the basis for the homeless registration and voting policy of Philadelphia, PA. The policy is similar to the D.C. plan, but requires a person who is experiencing homelessness to use a shelter for both actual residence and mailing address when registering. Like the D.C. plan, the individual who is homeless must show sufficient ties to the shelter. The person will then vote in the district where the shelter is located, even if the person resides in a different precinct.
In re-Application for Voter Registration of Willie R. Jenkins, D.C. Bd. of Elections and Ethics (June 7, 1984): This case established the homeless voting policy for Washington, D.C. The decision provided that an intent to reside in a place can constitute a place of residence for voting purposes. The policy allows a person to use the place where he/she sleeps as a residence even if the place is a nontraditional one. The person must provide the actual place of residence and a mailing address. The mailing address must be of a place to which the person has sufficient ties. The person will vote in the district of his/her place of residence


I did a little reading on this and it seems all over as long as someone can at the very leat show a residence of anykind, like a shelter, or whatever then generally they are allowed to vote. I personally don't think a person that is homeless should be excluded from voting, as long as they can prove they are eligible to vote. I do have a problem with campaigns taking advantage of homeless people by offering them rides and t-shirts and food to get them to vote, or for that matter these teams of people that sweep through the city looking for homeless people in order to take them to vote. In my opinion if a homeless person is really compelled to vote then they should be allowed to do so.

 

[DiamondDave]

Oh, I see what you are saying. I don't think there are that many whack job activists, either.

The again, Anne Coulter voted in the wrong precinct last time around.

Did I defend coulter?

And there are not that many whack job activists?? PUH-LEASE...
And not to mention the ones like bobo the clown and kirk, who I would not put it past them with their blind hatred, to do anything possible to vote more than once to advance their whacked agendas

Just look at a DC rally or some tree-hugger event or some KKK rally to see that there are indeed MANY whack-job activists of many kinds

 

[Silence]

They do pay sales tax.

this is true... but doesn't sales tax go to the state government and not the federal government?

They are US citizens and therefore have the right to vote but without proper residents and verification you have no guarantee that they aren't voting multiple times in different counties.

 

[Ravi]

this is true... but doesn't sales tax go to the state government and not the federal government?

They are US citizens and therefore have the right to vote but without proper residents and verification you have no guarantee that they aren't voting multiple times in different counties.

Yes, but the states are the one's that run the elections, no?

I have a hard time seeing homeless people being bothered to travel to several different counties to vote multiple times, honestly...the ones I see on a regular basis never seem to move beyond one square city block. Then again, most of them probably don't care if they vote or not...maybe the newly homeless that are homeless because of economic tough times.

The more I think of it, the stupider this issue is.

 

[Silence]

Yes, but the states are the one's that run the elections, no?

I have a hard time seeing homeless people being bothered to travel to several different counties to vote multiple times, honestly...the ones I see on a regular basis never seem to move beyond one square city block. Then again, most of them probably don't care if they vote or not...maybe the newly homeless that are homeless because of economic tough times.

The more I think of it, the stupider this issue is.

well if as Willow (I believe and God it pains me to agree with him) said campaigns are providing rides to vote not much can stop them from loading them in a van, plying them with food and taking them from precinct to precinct either.

I'm not saying it happens a lot but voter fraud is a concern when the person doesn't have to present a valid ID to vote.

I have to present my photo ID in order to vote...and my address must match the precinct I am voting in unless I vote early at the Supervisor of Election office which is located on the first floor of the building I work in...but they still match my address and alert my precinct that I voted early.

 

[Anguille]

this is a difficult question to answer.

Personally I think they shouldn't be allowed to vote. They aren't contributing members of society. They hold no job to speak of and clearly do not pay taxes so IMO they should not have a vote.

However, they are US citizens, many veterans who have served this country honorably so in that respect they should be entitled to a vote but they should also contribute to the communities that they live in...

WOW !!

I have to ask you if you think by your logic owning a McMansion and working at a job, any job, be it CEO of Enron, would then entitle you to more than one vote?

The homeless in this country are so disenfranchised that some people would deny them the right to vote for candidates who might help them out of their situation. That blows my mind!

It's a fallacy to believe that all homeless b people do not work. Many do. They live in shelters or wherever they can at night and blend into the workforce during the day. Many of the homeless are people who have worked all their lives and have found themselves out of luck.

I would even suggest that the homeless use up less resources in this country and for that reason they should be respected, not despised because they don't zip around in private jets and displace the lower classes in inner cities so they can have a spacious pied à terre.

At one time only property owners could vote. I'm guessing some people would like us to go back to that.

 

[sealybobo]

Do you think homeless people should be allowed to vote?

My understanding is that currently they can't register, which means they can't vote. Do you think this is fair? Why?

They can register and they can vote. And it should.

 

[Ravi]

well if as Willow (I believe and God it pains me to agree with him) said campaigns are providing rides to vote not much can stop them from loading them in a van, plying them with food and taking them from precinct to precinct either.

I'm not saying it happens a lot but voter fraud is a concern when the person doesn't have to present a valid ID to vote.

I have to present my photo ID in order to vote...and my address must match the precinct I am voting in unless I vote early at the Supervisor of Election office which is located on the first floor of the building I work in...but they still match my address and alert my precinct that I voted early.

Yeah, I guess if a homeless person wants to take the responsibility of establishing permanent residence (like a shelter) then they are welcome to vote. But rounding them up seems like a way of gaming the system.

We can either just show our DL, which gets swiped, or show our voter's registration and sign a form...I think. Last time I voted was the first time they required only the DL. My precinct is at a Honda dealer where they give out coffee and donuts and little tools to break out your window if you drive into a canal, lol. I guess that could bring the homeless in.