Florida Virtual Houses

Can People in Foreclosure Still Vote?

October 9th, 2008

Could people who’ve lost their home in a foreclosure lose their chance to vote on Nov. 4?

Believe of not there are efforts to keep such people off the voting rolls. It’s not a small segment of the population with the number of homes in foreclosure approaching two million nationwide. There are 23,000 home foreclosures in Ohio and 28,000 in Michigan, two key states. Add in renters who are getting kicked out of foreclosed homes and you are talking about a lot of displaced voters.

NoVoterLeftBehind.net is a non-profit group monitoring voter registration and the actual vote on Election Day. The effort is spearheaded by Marland Lt. Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, former Illinois Senator Carol Moseley Braun and others.

NoVoterLeftBehind has four tips for voters wrestling with foreclosure:

1) Voting is an inalienable right that you can’t lose due to an inability to meet mortgage payments. If anyone tries to tell you differently, don’t listen to him or her!

2) If you are in the foreclosure process – but still living in your home – you still vote where you live.

3) If you are forced to move due to foreclosure before the voting registration deadline, re-register at your new home location.

4) If you move due to foreclosure after the voting registration deadline -- but before the election -- go to vote where you were last registered. You have the right to vote by signing an affirmation (or similar form) if your right to vote is challenged for any reason. If your name isn’t on the registered voter list, you have the right to vote by provisional ballot.

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