Mobilizing the Vote

By Elisabeth Kristof

AUSTIN – The barbershop as an arena for political discussion is nothing new, but something about the scene at Reed’s barbershop in downtown Austin is. The conversation is no different from those in other barbershops. Proprietor Terrell Reed talks about Sen. Obama’s message of hope and change while his client, a military veteran, shares his excitement about Sen. Clinton possibly becoming the country’s first female president.

The difference is that Reed’s Barbershop is located in the lobby of the Austin Homeless Resource Center. Reed and his clients are homeless, yet their sentiments echo the excitement and energy found throughout Texas this primary season. “People are tired of the same old thing,” says Reed. “This election is something new. It may change the very course of this nation.”

Excitement about the process is one thing, however – actually getting to a voting booth can be quite another. Historically, homeless and elderly populations nationwide have faced serious challenges in casting their ballots, whether because of financial, mental or physical disabilities. In many cases, advocates contend, polling locations fail to accommodate their special needs and state legislation can even bar many from exercising their franchise. But this year advances in electronic voting and mobile polling technologies are helping to add a new dimension to the historical nature of the Texas primaries by generating increased participation among the previously excluded.

“Nobody knows what portion of the population is still disenfranchised, though we hope this number is decreasing with new technologies,” said Laura Usher in an email interview. Usher is a spokeswoman for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, an advocacy group. “It’s still awfully hard… to vote when you’re homeless. Many elderly have a hard time getting to the polls, and arcane legal definitions of mental illness, still used in many states, continue to disenfranchise these populations,” she said.

In a report to the U.S. Congress last month, the American Bar Association asserted that failure to increase access to the polls compromises the integrity of national elections and recommended the use of mobile polling to resolve the problem. While most states don’t yet have the technology for going mobile, Texas has helped lead the pack. The process was initiated shortly after the state instituted early voting in 1987, said Travis County Clerk Dana Debeauvoir in an email interview. Early voting has also helped to steadily increase the number of voters, and this year was available at 42 sites before the March 4 primaries.

This year, mobile polling has provided elderly citizens a chance to vote in what some view as one of the most historical elections of their lives. At Parson’s House, a north Austin assisted living facility, the game room was recently transformed into a polling site featuring five electronic voting machines and a team of registered voters hired by the state to show residents how to use the facilities. Martha Burke, for one, wasn't likely to have exercised her franchise had it not been for the new mobile services. “It’s hard to get on the freeway when you’re in a wheelchair,” she said.

Homeless voters face other challenges. One of the biggest is making them feel their votes matter, said Susan Morris, the Austin Homeless Resource Center’s community relations director. In addition, city laws aimed at reducing panhandling and loitering often leave the homeless feeling like the system is against them, said Richard Troxell, president of House the Homeless, a non-profit advocacy group.

The character of polling places can also present problems. For example, the voting precinct for the downtown homeless center happens to be the Travis Country Courthouse, which is filled with armed law enforcement officers. Some homeless persons feel uncomfortable voting at that location when they have had negative experiences with the police, said Troxell. As a solution, Troxell and Morris began using Travis County mobile polling services at the resource center last year. “We had much greater success getting our population to vote once we had mobile voting,” said Troxell.

As in the general population, different issues are important to different people among Austin’s newly mobilized voters. “Healthcare costs are important for people here,” said Morris. Barbershop owner Reed said he is concerned with community action on homelessness, but also about larger issues that cause homelessness such as addiction and mental illness. At the Parson’s House, the women were most interested in how to manage the national debt and in elder care.

One thing on which voters at the mobile polling sites visited for this report could agree on was the significance of this election. “It’d be great to have the first woman president,” said Juliet Milk, resident of Westminster Manor, a central Austin assisted living facility. “Of course, it’d also be great to have the first black president,” she added.

Joe Wooly, who regularly uses resource center services, said, “People want to see where this country will go. They want change.” Registered voters share a common belief in the value of political participation. “There’s power in voting,” said Reed.

Yet for all the excitement generated by this year’s Texas primaries, many homeless and elderly citizens will not get an opportunity to vote. Mobile polling sites only visit 13 of the over 2,000 assisted living homes in Austin. And when you’re homeless, said Morris, “your big worries are where you’re going to sleep and your next meal. It’s hard to get people enthusiastic about an election they feel doesn’t affect them.”

So while this year’s presidential race may be a long-overdue symbol of progress for some minorities, advocates argue that guaranteeing universal suffrage for all members of society is still likely to be a long uphill campaign.