Ahead of the midterm elections, NLIHC’s Our Homes, Our Votes campaign hosted its October 19 webinar, “GOTV for Housing Advocates: Mobilizing Voters in the Final Weeks Before Election Day.” Building on the previous webinar topics that covered the importance of being a trusted messenger, the event focused on leveraging that status in GOTV efforts.
Panelists discussed what organizations and advocates can do to support voter mobilization efforts, alongside the barriers to civic participation. Chantelle Wilkinson, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships & Campaigns at the Coalition, emphasized the importance of the upcoming election and urged organizations to sign-on to NLIHC’s letter opposing recent harmful Census changes that would undermine fair representation.
Morgan Murray, Voter Engagement Program Manager at the League of Women Voters of the United States, started the conversation with real-world strategies housing advocates can adopt to get out the vote in their communities. She emphasized the importance of voter mobilization, with every member of the House of Representatives and one-third of the US Senate on the ballot this November. Candidates at the state and local level are also being voted upon, with direct implications for affordable housing. Underscoring the need for voter outreach by housing advocates is the lower voter turnout rates among renters, naturalized citizens, and Southern populations. She also shared how nonprofit and community leaders are well-suited for GOTV efforts because of their connections with underrepresented populations, including people of color and low-income voters. Murray uplifted effective voter turnout strategies for advocates, including understanding state-specific deadlines and reaching out to people as trusted messengers with nonpartisan resources.
Ken Williamson, Program and Policy Analyst at the National Alliance to End Homelessness continued the conversation with a discussion on voting while experiencing homelessness. Williamson discussed the barriers unhoused people face when voting, including not having a permanent address, lacking transportation to the polls, and being unable to wait in lines to cast a ballot. People facing homelessness also have less informational avenues to learn about candidates and voting. To address this disenfranchisement, Williamson highlighted voter mobilization strategies, with the understanding that many housing providers have limited capacity. He discussed the value of engaging with residents early and often, leveraging existing partnerships and volunteers, and potentially working with a local election office to use organizations as polling locations.
Samantha Slosberg, 2026 Program Director at Power the Polls concluded the webinar with a conversation on the role poll workers play in democracy. She identified poll workers as being the faces of democracy by facilitating elections and ensuring accessibility for voters with disabilities and limited English proficiency. Slosberg stressed that each election location needs an adequate number of poll workers for voting to go smoothly, with workers setting up polling locations, checking-in voters, and ensuring ballots get to their destination. However, with November 3rd being a non-Presidential election, she highlighted how it can be difficult for counties to get enough poll workers or build out their alternatives list. Many counties are still looking for poll workers, which is an opportunity for advocates to support democracy in their community. Finally, Slosberg urged participants to thank their poll workers for supporting democracy.
Across the webinar, the panelists stressed the need for housing advocates to get involved in voter mobilization efforts, with outreach to underserved groups ultimately building a better democracy through increased participation. Housing advocates and organizations are specially equipped for voter activations because of their existing role amongst community members as trusted messengers, and their understanding of the barriers underrepresented populations faced towards voting. Despite these barriers, the panelists encouraged housing advocates to engage in GOTV efforts to ensure voting is a fundamental right, regardless of housing status.
The webinar concluded with resources housing advocates can leverage to mobilize their communities, including OHOV’s TurboVote tool that can be used to register to vote and provides election information, including voter registration status.
Webinar Resources
Presentation slides are available.
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Recording is available.
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