Department of Elections
City and County of San Francisco
John Arntz, Director

For Immediate Release
SAN FRANCISCO, Monday, October 17, 2022 – The Department of Elections will partner with Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and UCSF Emergency Department to expand voter outreach to people experiencing homelessness.

The Department developed a flyer for personnel at these health care facilities to distribute to patients experiencing homelessness. The flyer, Voting Information for San Francisco Residents Experiencing Homelessness, will be distributed in hospital discharge packets, along with other documents particularly relevant to members of this population, such as guides to shelters, meal services, healthcare, etc.

“We look forward to working closely with both Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and UCSF to increase awareness of voting rights among those experiencing homelessness in our city,” said Director John Arntz. “We invite other local organizations working with members of this population to contact our outreach coordinators, who can then provide onsite presentations, facilitate voter registration, and also distribute outreach election materials and voter guides.”

As in all recent elections, the Department of Elections has been facilitating registration opportunities and distributing multilingual election outreach materials to residents experiencing homelessness for the upcoming election – both directly and indirectly through local organizations well-positioned to reach members of this population. Earlier this month, Department personnel hand-delivered voter outreach packets to over 250 of the City’s shelters, permanent supportive housing units, transitional housing units, care and treatment facilities, social service agencies, and single room occupancy (SRO) hotels. Each packet was accompanied by a letter urging the recipient to consider partnering with the Department of Elections to increase awareness of registration and voting options for those experiencing homelessness and inviting them to contact Department staff to schedule a tabling event or presentation for their clients.

The Department’s outreach materials produced for San Franciscans without fixed addresses explain how to register to vote by using a general description of the voter’s residence, such as cross-streets, a public park, or a shelter, as a home address. These materials explain that voters’ registered home addresses determine the contests that appear on their ballots. The materials also explain that voters can provide mailing addresses which differ from the home addresses to receive their vote-by-mail packets and voter guides.  Finally, these materials explain that any local voter, can visit the City Hall Voting Center or a polling place to vote in person, or can request emergency ballot delivery.

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Department of Elections
City and County of San Francisco
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
City Hall, Room 48
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 554-4375
sfelections.org