"A critical barrier to the homeless voting, however, is the requirement instituted in 2006 that Ohio voters show identification at the polls"

Obtaining ID for the folks I work with is a primary part of my job. In Nashville, you don't really even exist if you don't have identification. You can't get a hotel room, a job, or housing without ID and the way people lose them is a varied as the folks doing the losing. With that said, one of the more ominous ways in which folks lose their ID is through police contact. Some of our local Finest have taken to requesting one's ID, then failing to return it. Another tactic occurs when the person is arrested for some "quality of life" crime. When the individual is "processed" and eventually released, they discover that no one seems to know what has happened to their ID in the process. Now to be fair, not every cop or jailer engages in this behavior, but enough do that it has become a real problem for those who need it the most. An odd corollary to this is that when a person actually spends time in jail and receives a jailhouse ID -an ID by the way that has about the most rigorous form of identification verification available: fingerprint matching - upon their release this ID is as worthless as "tits on a boar hog," as my dear departed mother liked to say. No one accepts it, it can't be used to obtain a state ID, and about the only thing it's good for is to pick cheap door locks. As for Ohio's photo ID requirement, court challenges are underway to stop this blatant attempt to disenfranchise voters:

(Full PDF here) One egregious new law is Indiana's Voter Photo ID law, which requires voters to present a government-issued photo ID at the polls. Although the state claims it will offer a free photo ID to those who lack a driver's license or passport, many homeless persons do not have the personal documents required to receive this "free" ID. Furthermore, the ID requires a proof of residency that may be impossible for homeless persons to obtain. While the law allows provisional ballots from those without IDs, the procedure for verifying one’s ballot will be impossible for many homeless and poor people. In November 2007, NLCHP and six other national organizations filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court challenging the Indiana law as creating unconstitutional obstacles to the right to vote. In its amicus brief for the case, (William Crawford et al. v. Marion County Election Board et al., and Indiana Democratic Party et al. v. Todd Rokita, Indiana Secretary of State et al.) filed on behalf of homeless persons, NLCHP noted: "Indiana's effort…senselessly increases the burdens of homelessness and denies homeless people their full measure of political expression." While the Court’s final ruling in April 2008 upheld the Indiana law, NLCHP will continue working to remove barriers to voting by homeless citizens.

It's just another way to marginalize and ostracize the Homeless from larger society..... (Photo by Jeff Kearns) Advocates urge homeless to vote

Many have difficulty meeting requirement to provide identification

By Kate Giammarise Toledo Blade

Published on Monday, Sep 15, 2008

A group of advocates for the homeless is working to register those in shelters and on the streets and bring them to the polls to take advantage of the state's early voting.

''A lot of the homeless are so disenfranchised and so far from the system that they really think they don't matter,'' said Ken Leslie, founder of 1Matters.

Leslie said he hopes to bring at least 500 homeless individuals and volunteers to vote this year during the annual Tent City homeless awareness event, which runs Oct. 31 through Nov. 2 in downtown Toledo.

Many of the homeless will be gathered in one place for Tent City, Leslie said, so his group plans to arrange transportation to the polls.

Homeless people can legally vote and use a shelter as their address, said Jeff Ortega, spokesman for the Ohio Secretary of State. Absentee balloting and in-person early voting begins Sept. 30 and runs through the day before the election.

Leslie said he wants to eliminate any barriers that could keep the homeless from voting by making sure they are registered and have identification.

Lisa Ward, who is also working on the get out the vote effort, said voter education is an important component, with a candidates' night planned for Tent City. She is also trying to gather print material about candidates and issues to distribute as well.

Ward, who has several politics-related blogs, including Glass City Jungle and Liberal Common Sense, said the effort is not designed to push or support any particular candidate or issue.

''This is totally, 100 percent non-partisan,'' she said.

She said by taking the homeless in groups to vote early, she hopes they will be able to overcome any problems or questions that might come up.

What is happening in Toledo is part of a statewide effort, said Brian Davis, executive director of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless.

Davis said his group has been registering the homeless to vote for years, but this year is making a push to get people to vote early in-person. The coalition aims to get all 2,000 people in shelters in Cleveland registered and taken to vote.

He estimates as many as 80 percent of shelter residents are already registered because of motor voter laws, or because they are asked if they wish to register when they apply for assistance.

A critical barrier to the homeless voting, however, is the requirement instituted in 2006 that Ohio voters show identification at the polls, Davis said.

''Many homeless people do not have identification, or it doesn't match their [shelter] address,'' he said. ''That has a negative impact on homeless people participating in the democratic process.''

His group is part of a lawsuit filed against the identification requirement.

''We want politicians to realize that homeless people do vote and [they] need to listen to some of their concerns,'' Davis said.

A group of advocates for the homeless is working to register those in shelters and on the streets and bring them to the polls to take advantage of the state's early voting.

''A lot of the homeless are so disenfranchised and so far from the system that they really think they don't matter,'' said Ken Leslie, founder of 1Matters.

Leslie said he hopes to bring at least 500 homeless individuals and volunteers to vote this year during the annual Tent City homeless awareness event, which runs Oct. 31 through Nov. 2 in downtown Toledo.

Many of the homeless will be gathered in one place for Tent City, Leslie said, so his group plans to arrange transportation to the polls.

Homeless people can legally vote and use a shelter as their address, said Jeff Ortega, spokesman for the Ohio Secretary of State. Absentee balloting and in-person early voting begins Sept. 30 and runs through the day before the election.

Leslie said he wants to eliminate any barriers that could keep the homeless from voting by making sure they are registered and have identification.

Lisa Ward, who is also working on the get out the vote effort, said voter education is an important component, with a candidates' night planned for Tent City. She is also trying to gather print material about candidates and issues to distribute as well.

Ward, who has several politics-related blogs, including Glass City Jungle and Liberal Common Sense, said the effort is not designed to push or support any particular candidate or issue.

''This is totally, 100 percent non-partisan,'' she said.

She said by taking the homeless in groups to vote early, she hopes they will be able to overcome any problems or questions that might come up.

What is happening in Toledo is part of a statewide effort, said Brian Davis, executive director of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless.

Davis said his group has been registering the homeless to vote for years, but this year is making a push to get people to vote early in-person. The coalition aims to get all 2,000 people in shelters in Cleveland registered and taken to vote.

He estimates as many as 80 percent of shelter residents are already registered because of motor voter laws, or because they are asked if they wish to register when they apply for assistance.

A critical barrier to the homeless voting, however, is the requirement instituted in 2006 that Ohio voters show identification at the polls, Davis said.

''Many homeless people do not have identification, or it doesn't match their [shelter] address,'' he said. ''That has a negative impact on homeless people participating in the democratic process.''

His group is part of a lawsuit filed against the identification requirement.

''We want politicians to realize that homeless people do vote and [they] need to listen to some of their concerns,'' Davis said.