This is wonderful news, for completely non-partisan reasons:
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A federal judge in Ohio has ruled that counties must allow homeless voters to list park benches and other locations that aren't buildings as their addresses.
U.S. District Judge Edmund Sargus also ruled that provisional ballots can't be invalidated because of poll worker errors.
This is not going to be a very long post. I just wanted to bring it to people's attention. About 25 years ago, a federal district court in New York was the first to hold that a person could not be denied the right to vote simply because they did not live in a traditional residence. Over the years, other federal courts have come to a similar conclusion, allowing people to list their residence as a street corner, park, shelter, etc.
Conservatives, naturally, are absolutely apoplectic over the idea that people too poor to afford a permanent place to live might actually have the same basic rights of citizenship as everyone else. From the wonderful people at National Review Online:
Try as I might, I cannot really understand how even a minimum standard of voting security can be maintained when, as an Ohio judge did yesterday, you decide to let the homeless vote. If there is no address — how do you check whether someone has voted before or whether they are using a real name? I get that the judge is attempting to enable fraud on behalf of his campaign — but how does this pass even a minimum test of reasonableness?
This argument rings just as hollow as all the other "voter fraud" claims. Other states with similar rules for homeless registration require a mailing address where voting ID cards and election materials can be sent. This address can be that of an advocacy organization, shelter, and in some states, a county courthouse or clerk's office.
Other states have allowed for this for years. Guess how many cases of voter fraud it's produced: ZERO. Like other cases of so-called "voter fraud," it just isn't a problem and never has been.
This would probably be a good time to remind everyone of the right-wing strategy here: