The eviction crisis and voter suppression

Congress and the White House failed to meet a self-imposed deadline of Friday to come to an agreement on the fifth round of coronavirus pandemic relief. Virus aid talks collapse; no help expected for jobless now.

It is important to note that there are a substantial number of Republicans who quite literally do not want to spend one dollar more to address this financial crisis. This is the “burn, baby burn” caucus of the Republican Party who are willing to watch it all burn down. “To what end?” is the question everyone should be asking.

The federal moratorium on evictions under the CARES Act expired at midnight on July 24. Some states, like Arizona, have enacted their own state eviction moratoriums, but others have not.

As federal, state and local protections and resources expire and in the absence of robust and swift intervention, the Aspen Institute now estimates 30–40 million people in America could be at risk of eviction in the next several months. The COVID-19 Eviction Crisis: An Estimated 30-40 Million People in America are at Risk.

The eviction crisis is already underway. Coronavirus Evictions Are Starting, With Millions More Expected By The End Of 2020:

There are 30 million to 40 million people in the United States at risk of being evicted by the end of the year, according to a report released Friday by the National Low Income Housing Coalition. Unless Congress acts to reimpose a moratorium on certain evictions, extend unemployment benefits or offer some other relief, these people could be forced out of their homes in the middle of an economic downturn and a pandemic.

More than a third of renters said at the end of July that they had little confidence they’d be able to make their August rent, according to a nationwide survey by the U.S. Census Bureau. Millions of Americans have returned to work since state and local governments imposed coronavirus lockdowns in March, but the pace of job growth has slowed ― just as federal stimulus policies are expiring.

The extra $600 pandemic unemployment assistance was crucial for so many, particularly renters ― that same amount is usually around what tenants owe when they’re evicted.

In hard-hit red states like Texas, Republican leaders are indifferent to the eviction crisis. “Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton advised Friday that local Texas governments’ attempts to delay evictions for renters grappling with the COVID-19 recession amounted to rewriting state law — something they can’t do, he said in nonbinding legal guidance.” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says local governments can’t stop or delay evictions.

Here in Arizona, Governor Ducey has extended his previous statewide eviction moratorium order to October 31. But as the Tucson Weekly (Cronkite News) explains, there are steps you must take soon if you are facing possible eviction. As feds debate COVID-19 deal, clock is ticking on state eviction protection:

Arizona renters may have breathed a sigh of relief last month when Gov. Doug Ducey extended the state moratorium on residential evictions to Oct. 31.

But for some of them, Oct. 31 could come as soon as later this month if they don’t act.

In his July 16 executive order, Ducey said that renters who wanted to defer a pending eviction have until Aug. 21 to notify their landlord in writing of a COVID-19 hardship and request a payment plan.

“After August 21, renters will need to provide their landlord or property owner a copy of their completed pending application for rental assistance through a state, city, county or nonprofit program” in order to defer eviction, the order says.

When Ducey announced the extension of the first residential eviction moratorium, state efforts to provide assistance to renters were lagging. Just 1,266 out of 18,784 applications for rental assistance had been approved at the time, an approval rate of 6.7%.

Those numbers have improved, but only marginally. By this week, three weeks after Ducey announced the extension, the number of approved applications had risen to 1,380, but the total number of applications had also risen, to 20,313, an approval rate that was just under 6.8%.

Applications for the Rental Eviction Prevention Assistance program are being processed by 11 community action agencies around the state, according to Janelle Johnsen, communications director for the Arizona Department of Housing.

She said in an email that one of the problems those agencies are running up against is that almost half of the applications are incomplete due to missing documentation, which can slow down the process. ADOH statistics showed that 8,019 of the submitted applications as of Aug. 3, or 39.5%, were incomplete.

Johnsen says that ADOH has recently changed a number of policies to the program to make the funding more flexible and has eased the supporting documentation requirements.

Even if they can get approved, however, the assistance program is not likely to clean the slate for renters.

At the end of July, the COVID-19 rental assistance program’s average monthly assistance was just under $900 for renters who had successfully applied and been approved. Total assistance paid out at that time was a little more than $1.7 million, out of $9.9 million requested. By this week, the numbers had risen to $1.85 million of $10.4 million requested.

Tenants can get assistance for past-due rent, but have to reapply for every month that they go further into debt to their landlord. To be eligible, renters have to show that they have lost income because of COVID-19, such as through the loss of a job, or that they have a medical reason, such as being quarantined or having to care for a sick relative.

Lamar Hawkins, an attorney at Guidant Law Firm in Tempe, says landlords could move quickly once the moratorium expires, which is why he encouraged tenants to have open communication with their landlords.

Hawkins noted that it is easier for landlords to hang on to current renters than having to kick them out, eat the money that they were owed in back rent and find new people to rent the vacant space.

But there is another, more sinister side to this eviction crisis. When you go to vote, your residence must match your voter registration information, so that you are voting in the right jurisdictions.

What happens to those individuals who are evicted between now and election day?

First, if you will experience a change of address in the next several weeks, you must reregister to vote using your new address. The voter registration deadline for the general election in November in Arizona is Monday, October 5. And do not forget to update your Arizona drivers license as well.

For those facing eviction at the end of October, you can vote early from October 7 to October 30. If you are voting early by mail, return your ballot as soon as you receive it, do not delay. You can request an early ballot today.

For those of you unfortunate enough to wind up homeless, you are still eligible to vote if you take action. The Homeless Vote: Can You Legally Cast a Ballot?

Although none of the 50 states require a physical address to vote, homeless individuals face multiple obstacles in the voting process.

Can Homeless People Vote?

In the past, states required voters to show proof of physical residence before they allowed them to register to vote. However, courts have struck down these laws and now states must only require people registering to vote to list a place they consider their residence, or where they sleep at night. In many states, this can be a shelter, or even a bench in the park.

The purpose of providing a place of residence is to: 1) make sure that a person is registering to vote in the correct district; and 2) assign the voter a polling place.

A Mailing Address May Be Required

Even though people experiencing homelessness can vote, there are many systemic and practical challenges they face when they try to cast their ballot. One of these challenges is not having a mailing address. Most states require everyone registering to vote to provide a mailing address where voter ID cards and other election-related materials can be sent.

The good news is that the mailing address does not need to be the voter’s residential address. Instead, it can be anywhere willing to accept mail on the voter’s behalf, such as an advocacy organization or shelter.

Awareness of voting procedures

Homeless people may not have the resources to learn the election procedures in their states, so they miss out on the opportunity. Other problems include not knowing where to get the proper voter registration documents and not being aware of the candidates that are running for office.

Still Have Questions?

The homeless voting rights manual prepared by the National Coalition for the Homeless can be a good resource to learn more about voting rights for the homeless.

Arizona elections officials and voting rights advocacy organizations need to step up their voter education and assistance programs in light of this pending eviction crisis.