Brendan O'Flaherty in United Press International
Groups help homeless overcome challenges to voting
As Americans face unprecedented challenges to voting amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the homeless community appears poised to cast tens of thousands of ballots this year, spurred by mobilization efforts and interest in the election, advocacy groups say.
An estimated 567,000 people experienced homelessness on any given night in 2019, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development's annual Point-in-Time count. Brendan O'Flaherty, a professor of economics at Columbia University, predicted that this number could be as much as 45% higher due to the pandemic, an addition of nearly 250,000 people.