While pundits and pollsters explore every avenue to predict the
outcome of the 2012 election, one group of people may have a major
impact on the election simply because of their absence: foreclosure
victims.
Whether these foreclosure victims have moved within their
county, across state lines or are still living in their home during
the
foreclosure
process, their ability to vote and even their willingness to vote
may have been impacted because of their foreclosure.
A
study
published by the University of California, Riverside in August 2012
showed that voter turnout in California was lower during the 2008
election in areas heavily impacted by foreclosures.
In every state, voter registration is tied to residency, but
states vary in how a voter must establish their residency and
re-register to vote. With some 1.3 million homes in some stage of
foreclosure as of August 2012 and with approximately 3.8 million
foreclosures already complete since September 2008, according to
the market research firm CoreLogic, foreclosures could keep
hundreds of thousands of voters away from the polls this
November.
"I don't have a crystal ball about how the election will turn
out, but some of the hardest hit real estate markets are in swing
states like Ohio and Florida," says
Neil Garfield
, author, attorney and consumer advocate in Phoenix. "Some of those
neighborhoods in places like Cleveland and Detroit not only
experienced a lot of foreclosures, but the home were bulldozed. No
one really knows how many voters from those areas have
re-registered to vote wherever they landed."
Foreclosures and the 2012 election
Garfield says the impact of foreclosures on the election is
difficult to predict because no one knows how likely the homeowners
were to vote before their foreclosure and whether they have
re-registered to vote in other locations.
"In Cleveland alone, more than 20,000 homes were bulldozed and
tens of thousands more were foreclosed on," says Garfield. "If the
election is as close as it's expected to be in a state like Ohio,
the absence of 20,000 or 50,000 voters could make a big
difference."
According to
NPR
, more than 99,000 voters, about 26 percent of previously
registered voters, have dropped off voter registration rolls in
Cleveland since 2008.
Garfield says that he often hears from foreclosure victims who
are angry. "The anger toward the mega banks, toward President Obama
and toward congressional Republicans hasn't really been addressed
by either party," he says. "The sense I get anecdotally is that
these people feel there's no difference between either political
party. It's hard to say which way these voters will vote."
Voting rights and foreclosures
"The big issue that we're trying to help people understand is
that there are different points in the foreclosure process and
those points impact the homeowners' ability to vote," says Ben
Hovland, senior counsel for the Fair Elections Legal Network in
Washington, D.C. "All 50 states have different ways of handling
voting."
The Fair Elections Legal Network has links to voting information
for some of the hardest-hit states. Hovland says that in some
states you can use your former home's address for voting purposes,
especially if you are in temporary housing.
"If you plan to stay in your new residence you need to update
your residency for voting purposes," says Hovland. "Usually, if you
cross county lines, you'll need to re-register to vote."
Hovland says a few states allow Election Day registration and
others allow you to update your address on voting day as long as
you have moved within your state.
"Most states require you to re-register before the voter
registration period ends," says Hovland. "Under federal law, voter
registration cannot end more than 30 days before the election, so
many states closed their registration for the upcoming election on
October 9."
Hovland says that if you are still living in your home, you can
still vote from that address even if you are in the midst of a
foreclosure.
"You can also vote from your old address even if you moved out,
if you live in a state that has a right of redemption, which means
there's a period of time in which you can repurchase your home, and
have yet to establish a new residency," he says.
Hovland says local voting rules prevail in every case, so anyone
who is confused about their ability to vote should contact their
local election officials. Garfield agrees, saying the important
point is for foreclosure victims to proactively confirm their
ability to vote by checking with their local voter registration
board.