What Homeless People Think of the Presidential Election

Wearing a purple wristband that matched her purple eyeshadow and purple shirt, Kathleen Liautaud stood in line with hundreds of people outside one of San Francisco's biggest auditoriums. She pushed a stroller with her dog Chica Bean tucked inside, hiding her from the harsh sunlight.

The two waited for an event hosted by a San Francisco-based organization called Project Homeless Connect (PHC). Once every few months, PHC provides services to homeless people in the area, including dental care, eyeglasses, HIV testing, mental health and employment counseling, legal advice, and ID cards.

Liautaud has been following this year's peculiar presidential election closely. She's one of the many low-income or homeless folks who will be casting ballots for the next leader of the US — and she's fully aware that some people might be surprised. "I think a lot of people schlep us off. They think that this community is full of people that are non-thinking, non-caring, too lazy. And that's not the case," she said. Liautaud considers voting a privilege. At 61 years old, she's voted in every presidential election since she was 21.

Megan Hustings, the executive director of the National Coalition of the Homeless, is all too familiar with this perception. "The stereotypes about people who experience homelessness are terrible — about their hygiene, their desire to get jobs, to better their situation," she said. "There are all kinds of ways that society thinks that people who are homeless are sub-human, or not complete citizens, and voting is just another way that we see that."

Why their vote matters

There are no reliable statistics on the percentage of homeless people who vote in elections, said Hustings. Still, a look at the US census numbers from the most recent presidential and congressional elections show that people with the lowest incomes — with a family income of $20,000 or less — have some of the lowest registration and voting rates across age groups. In the 2012 presidential election, for instance, 45 percent of people ages 25 to 44 with a family income of less than $10,000 voted. The amount of people ages 25 to 44 with a family income of $74,00 to $150,000+ who voted? More than 70 percent.

Depending on state rules, homeless people can register using a street corner, shelter, or park as a home address. But what makes registering incredibly difficult are the identification card rules, said Hustings. They too vary by state, but they often present a major hurdle since many low-income and homeless people don't have a birth certificate or Social Security card necessary to obtain an ID.

The homeless vote is significant, too. "Participating in our democracy is very important, especially with the folks we work with because we think they've become homeless because of government issues — like the defunding of affordable housing and the lack of health, wage, and labor support," said Hustings. "For that reason, we work to register to vote and do our best to educate them about what candidates and issues they care about."

They don't all vote the same

Since the '90s, the National Coalition of the Homeless has worked with partners across the country to empower low-income people to vote. For instance, some shelters will register people as part of their intake process while others will hold forums about candidates, even at the local level. From her experience, Hustings said poor voters are just as heterogeneous as the general population — not all of them are Democrats like many people believe, and some don't vote not because they can't, but because they don't want to.

This became clear after talking to several people at the PHC event San Francisco. Sure, San Francisco is a liberal city and many of the low-income people we spoke to were Democrats. But there were conservatives, too. Some live in shelters, others in single-room occupancies, and some sleep at the library during the day.

Only one person asked who was running for president and kept calling Bernie Sanders "Bernal Sanders," but many were well informed. Another said he didn't care about voting because he had too much else to worry about; he was the only person we spoke to who was rooting for Donald Trump. The rest detest Trump. As Brian Whitten, a 58-year-old who has voted in 12 elections, said: "I hate Trump. He's arrogant, rude, crude, and disrespectful."

Ahead, hear what more of San Francisco's low-income population thinks of the election.

April Lynn Reed, age 54

April Lynn Reed whizzed by in her wheelchair with an LGBT flag blowing behind. She doesn't plan to vote because all of the candidates suck in her opinion. "Out of all the candidates, not one deserves to be president — they all are full of sh*t," she said. "Take a pay cut if you want to get this country out of debt. Quit taxing low-income people." Reed's been voting since she was 18 years old and currently lives in shelter. She said she's a veteran who served in the Marine Corps throughout the '90s and was stationed in Beirut, Guam, Parris Island, and Twentynine Palms. "I fought for this country and now I'm living on our streets and they want to bring in refugees."

Michael, 26

"I want Trump to win," said Michael, who didn't want to reveal his last name or have his photo taken. "He's smart, he knows how to be in control, he's a good business guy." Michael's not registered and doesn't plan to vote, though. He's coming off drugs and lives in a shelter. "I don't have an ID, a phone. I don't know, voting's not on my mind — I have other things to worry about," he said as he smoked a cigarette and walked off to take a nap at the public library nearby.

Jeffery Woods, age 19

Meet Jeffery Woods from Texas. He came to California six months ago, lives in shelter, and has no income. He asked who was running for president and referred to Bernie Sanders as Bernal Sanders. "Bernal Sanders wants to help people out, he wants to lower taxes. He's trying to do something for the people." As for Trump? "Trump doesn't have peoples' interests at heart — he's acting like a dictator. His speeches aren't worth anything." Woods wasn't sure if he was registered to vote in Texas and has no current plans to vote in California.

Kathleen Liataud, age 61

"I'm scared that we have a candidate like Trump who has a following," said Liataud, who identifies as very low income and lives in subsidized housing. She's been registered to vote for 40 years and plans to cast ballots in the California primary and general election. The issues that matter the most to her? More social services for all people and more of an even distribution of wealth. Hillary Clinton is getting her vote, that's for sure. "She is a woman, she experiences what an average woman has experienced," she said. "I find Bernie interesting but he doesn't have the potential to win — she can take Trump on."

Stanley Michael Jackson, age 62

Jackson was hanging outside the PHC event, accepting donations for a newspaper called Streets Sheet. The low-income men and women who pass out the papers get to keep all the contributions. Jackson has lived in San Francisco's notoriously rough Tenderloin neighborhood for 20 years, and he's all about Hillary Clinton. He likes that she "will bring back Bill," aligns herself closely with Obama, and is a "tough broad." He's registered to vote, and thinks terrorism is the biggest threat to the country. "There are too many open borders and we don't have a way to stop it." When told that his words sounded a lot like Trump's, he laughed and said, "You know what my slogan is for Trump? President Trump will help bring a white man back into the White House."

Albert Blais, age 53

Albert Blais isn't sure who he's voting for yet. "I don't want Donald Duck," he said, referring to Trump. "Bernie's talking too much, making promises he can't keep, like ending the federal ban on marijuana. Cinton? She's funded by pharmaceuticals," he said. "Sometimes I wonder, is my vote even gonna matter?" Blais is on disability, receives social security benefits, and shares a studio apartment with someone else. He belongs to the Brownie Mary Club, which calls itself "the first political-party affiliated Cannabis Club in California, and maybe the nation."

Angelica Torres Mercado, age 39

Angelica Torres Mercado lives in single-room occupancy hotel — the shortage of affordable housing and lack of jobs is top of mind for her. She doesn't plan to register to vote though. "Too much bureacracy — too many questions. It's my personal choice not to vote," she said, but she still watch debates every now and then. Despite the backlash Clinton has gotten over her private emails, she thinks it will be a Trump versus Clinton showdown in November — and she's definitely not rooting for Trump. "I want Clinton to win to have a female president. She can put up a 10-foot wall around Trump!" she said.