Our Homes, Our Votes Updates – June 14, 2024

VoteRiders and HeadCount Release “Vote with Pride” Guide

VoteRiders, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that provides voter ID assistance to ensure that all citizens are able to exercise their freedom to vote, partnered with HeadCount’s Vote with Pride initiative to create a voter ID guide for transgender and non-binary voters. Many LGBTQIA+ Americans, especially transgender and non-binary people, face barriers to securing voter identification.

Transgender and non-binary citizens often have identification that does not match their name or gender, which can lead to invalidating, intimidating, or unsafe voting experiences. Restrictive voter ID laws also make it challenging for transgender and non-binary citizens to obtain new IDs with accurate information. To empower voters to overcome these obstacles, VoteRiders and HeadCount’s Vote with Pride resource guide walks LGBTQIA+ people who need voter ID assistance through the necessary steps to obtain or update their identification.

Learn more about this resource guide from VoteRiders at: https://www.voteriders.org/pride/

Learn more about HeadCount’s Vote with Pride initiative: https://www.headcount.org/vote-with-pride/

New Research Illustrates the Impact of Life Disruptions on Political Participation

In a new paper published in Political Behavior, “The Politics of Personal Crisis: How Life Disruptions Shape Political Participation,” Christopher Ojeda, Jamila Michener, and Jake Haselswerdt demonstrate that personal crises generally dampen voter turnout but can also catalyze other forms of political action. Ojeda et al. find that “as crises accumulate, voting declines for many citizens while participation in other political acts increases for a few citizens.”  The experience of one personal crisis – which include eviction, foreclosure, substantial increases in housing costs, or loss of access to a government program – generally reduces a person’s likelihood of voting by draining their resources, time, and motivation. The effects are more severe for Americans who face multiple compounding crises. 

This research indicates that housing instability and other personal crises can discourage people from voting. However, when voters can see the correlation between their personal crisis and a deeply political issue, voters are more likely to engage in other political activity, like contacting their elected official and volunteering for a campaign. The authors hypothesize that other political activities “are more targeted than voting and therefore provide a potential solution to a personal crisis,” while voting is less likely to offer immediate relief from a crisis.

Read the complete paper here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11109-024-09933-x

New Polling Demonstrates Battleground Voters See Housing Affordability as a Priority Election Issue

Right to the City Action, in partnership with the Center for Popular Democracy and HIT Strategies, conducted a poll of registered voters in five battleground states (Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania) regarding their perspectives on housing affordability in the 2024 elections. The polling finds that there is a gap between what battleground voters – especially renters and younger voters – want to hear from politicians and what they are actually hearing from politicians about housing affordability. Fifty-one percent of renters report that they do not hear politicians talk about the cost of rent and housing much or at all, but 82% believe that if addressed, it would make their personal situation better.

The polling shows that renters were more favorable towards bold government action to address housing costs, with 77% of renters stating they would be more likely to vote for a candidate that supports rent stabilization. Proposals for progressive government action coupled with urgent language to address the affordable housing crisis were on average more than 25 percentage points more favorable than messaging that proposed more moderate solutions.

Access the poll results here: https://www.rttcaction.org/poll

Commemorating 100 Years of Native American U.S. Citizenship

This month marks 100 years since the passage of the 1924 Indian Citizenship Act, which granted all Native Americans the right of U.S. citizenship. Crucially, the law conferred U.S. citizenship on members of Tribal nations without requiring that they relinquish their Tribal citizenship status. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Indian Citizenship Act on Sunday, June 2, Illuminative, the Native Organizers Alliance, and the Native American Rights Fund created a Native citizenship toolkit. The toolkit includes social media images and messaging for both Native people and allies to raise awareness of Native American citizenship and the ongoing movement for all Native people to access the right to vote.

View the toolkit at: https://illuminative.org/nativecitizenship/toolkit/

Become an Our Homes, Our Votes Affiliate!

Our Homes, Our Votes convenes a network of affiliates, which are nonpartisan organizations that are committed to boosting voter turnout among low-income renters and elevating housing as an election issue. Advocacy organizations, direct service providers, resident councils and tenant associations, local governments, and other related organizations are welcome to become Our Homes, Our Votes affiliates.

Benefits of participating in the affiliates network include:

  • Access to a listserv where NLIHC staff and campaign partners exchange ideas and announce opportunities related to nonpartisan voter engagement.
  • Invitations to biweekly affiliates office hours, an agenda-free, drop-in, optional space where affiliates can workshop their nonpartisan election plans. Office hours take place every other Friday from 1 to 3 pm ET.
  • Invitation to a post-election virtual gathering to debrief on the election cycle and brainstorm next steps for nonpartisan civic engagement.
  • Enhanced access to Our Homes, Our Votes tools and resources, including customized TurboVote referral links to track the impact of nonpartisan voter engagement activities.

To learn more about the affiliates network and apply to join, visit: https://www.ourhomes-ourvotes.org/affiliates

Become a Civic Holidays Partner!

Civic Holidays are nonpartisan days of action that strengthen and celebrate our country’s democracy. The four Civic Holidays – National Voter Registration Day, National Voter Education Week, Vote Early Day, and Election Hero Day – activate nonprofits, campuses, businesses, and other organizations to engage voters in their communities. Each holiday focuses on a different aspect of voter engagement: registration, education, mobilization, and celebration of voting. Nonpartisan organizations are invited to partner with the Civic Holidays. Partners will receive state-by-state FAQs and voter engagement guides, online voter tools, multilingual resources, swag, and other giveaways. Learn more and sign up to become a Civic Holidays partner here.