Non-Partisan Initiative Aims to Assist Over a Million Renters Participate in 2020 Elections
Washington, D.C. – The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) is teaming up with leading affordable housing providers nationwide to assist the country’s lowest-income and most disenfranchised people participate in the democratic process this November through the Our Homes, Our Votes: 2020 campaign. The campaign is a nonpartisan voter engagement effort focused on increasing voter registration and turnout among low-income residents through a combination of voter education, registration, and mobilization.
“With the additional challenges presented this year due to the pandemic, ensuring low-income renters can vote is more important than ever,” said NLIHC President and CEO Diane Yentel. “Housing providers are in a unique position to overcome these and other long-standing challenges by making sure their tenants can register and by helping to coordinate access to absentee ballots or polling locations.”
Our Homes, Our Votes 2020 has engaged more than 45 housing providers representing over 500,000 units of affordable housing in 46 states and DC with a goal of bringing together owners and property managers representing over one million eligible voters before election day. Leading participants include Jonathan Rose Companies, National Housing Trust, WinnCompanies, POAH, McCormack Baron Salazar, The Community Builders, NRP Group, Mercy Housing, Dominium, NHP Foundation, National Church Residences, and Enterprise Residential. Information about the 2020 Housing Providers Council and a full list of participants is available at: https://www.ourhomes-ourvotes.org/housing-providers-council
“Our residents and their communities are enhanced when they actively participate in their local, state and national elections,” said Jonathan Rose Companies President Jonathan F.P. Rose. “As building owners and managers, we are committed to supporting our residents in registering to vote, becoming informed about the issues that affect them, and safely voting.”
Census data confirm that low-income voters are registered and vote at lower rates than higher-income citizens. There are many reasons for this disparity in voter participation. Low-income people face several challenges to voting such as less-flexible work schedules that may not allow time off to vote; more difficulty obtaining legal identification; transportation impediments that may make getting to the polls more difficult; and, a greater likelihood of misinformation about their rights as voters. Additionally, systemic racism has made it difficult for people of color to vote. These barriers can include voter intimidation, polling locations that are more distant in low-income areas, understaffed polling sites leading to excruciatingly long lines, and language accessibility of ballots.
“A functioning democracy depends on robust voter registration and turnout,” said National Housing Trust President Priya Jayachandran. “Residents of affordable housing, including people of color, seniors, and persons with disabilities can ensure their voices are heard in the upcoming election by voting. The National Housing Trust is committed to helping residents overcome barriers to voting and is proud to participate in the Housing Providers Council in support of Our Homes, Our Votes: 2020.”
NLIHC's Our Homes, Our Votes: 2020 campaign will provide nonpartisan training and assistance to resident service coordinators and property management staff working to increase voter registration and getting out the vote. Participants will be provided nonpartisan materials such as posters, flyers, newsletter articles, mailings and voter guides that can be co-branded by each participant. Our Homes, Our Votes: 2020 will also feature the efforts of participants in social media, blog posts, and e-newsletters to amplify their work. The Our Homes, Our Votes: 2020 campaign has developed strong partnerships with organizations that can provide assistance in such areas as language access at the ballot, voter-rights protections, and accessing voter IDs where needed. Because election laws and deadlines vary considerably by state, Our Homes Our Votes: 2020 leaders are teaming up with organizations in over 15 states to organize a series Zoom calls where participants can learn about available voting information and resources by state and coordinate with each other on next steps.
Affordable housing owners and property managers interested in participating can sign up here. Participation is free, and the only requirement is that participants commit to engage with residents in a non-partisan manner and follow all election laws.
PARTICIPANTS
- ACTION-Housing
- Avanath Capital Management
- Beacon Communities
- Bridging the Gap Development
- Church Housing Corporation
- City of Philadelphia – Dept of Behavior Health
- Colorado Coalition for the Homeless
- Columbia Residential
- Community Housing Resource Partners
- Dominium
- EAH Housing
- Edgewood Management/Vantage Management
- Enterprise Residential
- Envolve Communities
- Gunnison Valley Regional Housing Authority
- Habitat America
- Hope Communities
- John Stewart Company
- Jonathan Rose Companies
- L+M Development Partners/C+C Management
- Landex Development
- LDG Development
- Linc Housing
- Maiker Housing Partners
- McCormack Baron Salazar
- Mercy Housing
- The Michaels Organization/Better Tomorrows
- National Church Residences
- National Housing Trust
- NHP Foundation/Operation Pathways
- The NRP Group
- Peabody Properties
- Perry Rose
- Preservation Management
- Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH)
- Richman Property Services
- Schochet Companies
- Silver Street Development Corp
- Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corp
- TESCO Properties
- The Community Builders
- Volunteers of America
- WinnCompanies
- Wishcamper Companies
- Woda Cooper Companies
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About Our Homes, Our Votes: 2020: NLIHC launched the nonpartisan voter and candidate engagement project to raise the issue of affordable housing in the 2020 elections, to urge candidates to discuss how they will deal with the crisis, to track their comments and proposals, and to engage more low-income renters in the voting. Learn more at: https://www.ourhomes-ourvotes.org/