Reps. Cleaver, Williams Introduce Legislation to Protect Voting Rights of Unhoused Americans

August 7, 2025
Press Release

(Washington, D.C.) This week, marking the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act and as part of a legislative package to protect the voting rights of all Americans, U.S. Representatives Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-MO), Ranking Member of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance, and Nikema Williams (D-GA), along with Reps. Terri Sewell (D-AL), Julie Johnson (D-TX), Marc Veasey (D-TX), Robert “Bobby” Scott (D-VA), Delia Ramirez (D-IL), and Kevin Mullin (D-CA), introduced legislation to protect the voting rights of unhoused individuals. The Unhoused Voter Opportunity Through Elections (VOTE) Act provides legal protections and minimum standards for accessibility to voting for unhoused Americans, in addition to providing resources for efforts to expand access to the ballot for unhoused people. 

“In the United States of America, every citizen has a right to make their voice heard in our democracy—and there must be no exceptions for those who are temporarily unhoused,” said Congressman Cleaver. “As the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance, I’m proud to join with Congresswoman Williams in introducing the Unhoused VOTE Act to ensure that every American, including those who are struggling with housing instability, are able to cast a vote in our elections.”

“As we mark the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, we are unfortunately facing the same struggle for voting rights. The tactics of voter suppression may look different, but the intent remains the same,” said Congresswoman Williams. “Congressman John Lewis taught us that every generation has an obligation to move our country one step forward. My legislative package takes a major step to ensuring everyone can practice their fundamental right to vote. In the face of Jim Crow 2.0 and intentionally racist gerrymandering, we urgently need comprehensive national standards to protect voting rights for everyone—no matter your ZIP Code, no matter your bank account.”

Specifically, the Unhoused VOTE Act would protect voting rights for unhoused Americans by:

  1. Formally establishing in law that no state may deny an individual the right to vote because they do not have a traditional home – an idea that was first put forth by Congressman John Lewis through the Voting Rights of Homeless Citizens Act.
  2. Setting federal standards and formal protections for voting rights of unhouse people, such as:
    1. Ensuring voting dropboxes are deployed in accessible locations;
    2. Requiring shelters be eligible to be used as a place of residence when registering to vote;
    3. Ensuring that people can use an unsheltered street location in order to vote;
    4. Requiring that an ID issued by a criminal justice entity is eligible for use as voter ID;
    5. Requiring outreach and resources be made available online and to relevant stakeholders; and more
  3. Conducting a study on the voting rights of unhoused Americans to determine the extent to which unhoused people are able or unable to register to vote in elections; and
  4. Providing grant funding to expand access to voting for unhoused individuals.

The Unhoused VOTE Act is co-sponsored by Reps. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ), Shontel Brown (D-OH), André Carson (D-IN), Sean Casten (D-IL), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), Suzan DelBene (D-WA), Christopher Deluzio (D-PA), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Sarah Elfreth (D-MD), Dwight Evans (D-PA), Cleo Fields (D-LA), Shomari Figures (D-AL), Jesús “Chuy” García (D-IL), Al Green (D-TX), Jonathan Jackson (D-IL), Henry “Hank” Johnson (D-GA), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA), Robin Kelly (D-IL), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), John Larson (D-CT), Summer Lee (D-PA), Stephen Lynch (D-MA), Jennifer McClellan (D-VA), LaMonica McIver (D-NJ), Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Kweisi Mfume (D-MD), Gwen Moore (D-WI), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Andrea Salinas (D-OR), Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), Lateefah Simon (D-CA), Marilyn Strickland (D-WA), Emilia Sykes (D-OH), Shri Thanedar (D-MI), Bennie Thompson (D-MS), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Paul Tonko (D-NY).

The Unhoused VOTE Act is endorsed by Southern Poverty Law Center, The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause, National Housing Law Project, League of Women Voters, ACLU, End Citizens United, Demos, Democracy Defenders Action, National Alliance to End Homelessness, Voto Latino, Public Citizen, National Council of Jewish Women, Faith in Public Life Action, NextGen America, National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC), GALEO Impact Fund, Coalition for the People's Agenda, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, RepresentUs, MoveOn, In Our Own Voice: National Black Women's Reproductive Justice Agenda, Interfaith Alliance, Spread the Vote, People Power United, The Workers Circle, Climate Hawks Vote, Center for Common Ground, Return My Vote, Georgia Equality, CAIR-Georgia, Indivisible Georgia Coalition, Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice, The Sikh Coalition, Field Team 6, Union for Reform Judaism, and Avondale ACTion.

Official text of the Unhoused VOTE Act is available here.

 

 

Emanuel Cleaver, II is the U.S. Representative for Missouri's Fifth Congressional District, which includes Kansas City, Independence, Lee's Summit, Raytown, Grandview, Sugar Creek, Greenwood, Blue Springs, North Kansas City, Gladstone, and Claycomo. He is a member of the exclusive House Financial Services Committee and Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance.