Homeless urged to consider vote
A YOUNG man who was homeless has encouraged others to register to vote to change the system for the better.
A new service allows homeless people to use a post office of their choice as an address to receive their ballot paper.
The post office they choose would then be their chosen constituency, it is understood.
James Flanagan, a 20-year-old Dubliner said the homelessness crisis is getting “worse and worse”, but “with the power to vote, we can fix it”.
He added: “As a young person who struggled with homelessness in the past, it’s amazing to be able to actually have a voice and to be able to be recognised in the community.
“It’s amazing to be able to vote and be able to have that voice.”
Advocacy groups have argued that as a growing cohort of people, those who are homeless could make the difference between who wins a seat in parliament and who does not.
There were 13,531 people in homeless accommodation in January, according to the latest official figures, 9,504 of whom were adults.
Focus Ireland estimates using official figures that there are 50,000 people who have been homeless in recent years.
Mike Allen, director of advocacy, communications and research at Focus Ireland, said: “They are significantly higher than the sorts of numbers which at the end of the count that make a difference between
POWERFUL
Art O’leary, Faye Dunne, James Flanagan, Anna Mchugh and Mike Allen people getting elected or not getting elected. The difference that those people who are experiencing homelessness can make can be very significant in elections if they vote.” He said people who are homeless have faced two major barriers in trying to vote: how complicated the electoral register is, and the need for an address.
Ireland’s new electoral authority, the Electoral
Commission, aims to introduce “very significant radical changes” in the way the electoral register works, he said, which it is hoped will make it easier for marginalised people, including people who are homeless, to register and use their vote.
“Now we have the possibility of getting voters registered relatively simply,” Mr Allen said.
“The second major change is the An Post initiative of Address Point, because even if you got on the register before, you couldn’t give an address.” Louise Bayliss, campaign co-ordinator at Focus Ireland, said that during a pilot voter registration drive among young people who are homeless, they saw how effective the scheme could be.
She said: “This young lad there was really nice and was really powerful and said ‘I know exactly who I’m going to vote for... the one who looks after young people.’ And I thought it was just so powerful.”