In a move that could increase the ranks of Democratic voters this election year, Atty. Gen. Roland Burris issued a legal opinion Wednesday that the homeless have a constitutional right to vote.
Although the opinion is only advisory, various local election authorities indicated they may open registration to the homeless in light of his decision. Some local election authorities have allowed voting by the homeless. The Chicago Board of Elections established procedures in the late 1980s to register the homeless, officials said.
Still, Burris, a Democrat, conceded that ”a statutory mechanism is needed to guide election officials in registering the homeless.” He urged Republican Gov. Jim Edgar to sign legislation approved during the spring session of the General Assembly that would grant the homeless the right to vote and make the process of registering the homeless uniform throughout the state.
Election law requires voters to give an address to meet residency requirements, something that homeless-rights advocates contend is an unfair burden that disenfranchises people.
Under the legislation, the homeless could register by designating a shelter or social-service office as a ”home base” where they can receive mail. That is similar to the Chicago policy.
Burris said the legislation ”appears to strike an appropriate balance”
between formally granting the homeless the right to vote and providing safeguards to protect the integrity of the election process.
The measure was backed largely by Democrats, who believe the disenfranchised homeless can be added to the party`s constituency.
Estimates of the number of homeless people living in the state vary from 50,000, according to public aid officials, to more than 100,000, according to homeless-rights advocates.
Republicans are fearful that the measure could increase Democratic turnout and that it could lead to increased chances for vote fraud because of the potential difficulty in verifying the registration of homeless voters.
”The governor did tell advocates for the homeless that he would seriously consider approving the legislation,” said Edgar spokesman Mike Lawrence. ”But he wanted to be assured that there were adequate safeguards against voter fraud.” He added that the legislation is ”under review.”
