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2010 Voter Rights/Registration Packet

Get out the Vote: Leading up to Election Day

Once clients/shelter residents are registered, they face not only the difficulty of actually getting to the polls on Election Day, but also finding out where they need to vote. “Get Out the Vote” drives are critical for high levels of participation. Of all the homeless people that do manage to register as a voter, many end up not voting often because they are unable to find transportation to the polling site or they did not manage to find out where their polling site was.

There are many ways to encourage people to vote on Election Day and ways to give them the means of getting to the polling site. The following is a list of suggestions that can be tailored to your specific needs and should provide a good starting point for developing a successful “Get Out the Vote” drive at your agency.

Hang signs in shelters telling the open hours and location (with a map) of the designated polling place if registered at the shelter. Frequent reminders can increase incentive for homeless persons to go to the polls on Election Day.

Provide information about absentee ballot and early voting requirements and deadlines for your state. Such information could be provided at shelters in the form of flyers.

Print newsletters or flyers about the candidates and issues and distribute them in shelters shortly before Election Day. This not only serves to educate but also to encourage the voter to take the final step and go out and vote.

Hold a candidate’s forum so that people can become more familiar with candidates and their positions. Information on how to hold a successful candidate forum is provided in Chapter II of this manual.