Greater Electoral Access for the Homeless.

• Author: Kopec, Anna
• Position: Special Report: Poverty and Homelessness

Much more needs to be done to ensure that homeless people are encouraged to vote and given equal opportunity to do so.

Do homeless people vote? Although they are citizens of Canada, the political participation of homeless people has rarely been considered. The health of our democracy should be measured by our commitment to ensuring that the most vulnerable citizens are able to participate in the democratic process. The widespread assumption, however, is that homeless people are apathetic, are not interested in politics and do not vote, so discussions about electoral access tend not to include them. Although election officials do try to reach out to vulnerable populations, and the rules do allow homeless people to vote, much more needs to be done to ensure that homeless people are both encouraged to vote and given equal opportunity to do so.

In research for my master's thesis at the University of Guelph, I examined the barriers to voting for homeless people in Toronto. I conducted 45 qualitative interviews. I interviewed 28 homeless individuals from three shelters and drop-in centres in the city; 9 service providers from seven institutions serving homeless people; 5 politicians (past and current MPs, MPPs and city councillors) representing areas where homeless people are concentrated; and representatives from the elections agencies: Elections Canada, Elections Ontario and the Toronto City Clerk's Office.

I found that homeless people are interested in and knowledgeable about politics. Three-quarters of those I interviewed expressed strong and informed opinions on political parties, candidates and policies. The homeless people I spoke to were eager to discuss political matters and expressed interest in learning more about how they might vote, particularly since most were not even aware that they were allowed to do so. The marginalization of homeless people often leads to the assumption that they simply aren't interested in participating in politics. In turn, this assumption then reinforces and justifies a lack of policy initiatives to support the political engagement of this segment of the public.

However, my research shows that homeless Canadians do vote. Half of those I interviewed had voted in the October 2015 federal election (the national turnout was 68 percent), although only a third were homeless at the time.

The process of voting for citizens without a permanent address in Canada is complex. It varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction...