by Thomas Breen
Eight different New Haveners who voted early in Tuesday’s municipal election listed their address as Christian Community Action’s (CCA) headquarters on Davenport Avenue — even though they do not reside at any of the shelters operated by that Hill homelessness services nonprofit.
According to a database maintained by the Secretary of the State’s office, the eight early voters who put down their address as 168 Davenport cast their ballots between Oct. 29 and Nov. 1. All eight voted at the early voting site at Southern Connecticut State University’s (SCSU) Schwartz Hall on Fitch Street. Three were registered Democrats, three were registered Independent Party members, and two were unaffiliated.
On Wednesday, CCA Executive Director Charmain Yun told the Independent that the eight people who listed 168 Davenport as their address when voting are not residents of any of CCA’s shelters, including the apartment-style family units at 168 Davenport. She also said that CCA does not give approval to people outside of their housing programs to use CCA’s address.
This episode raises questions about what homeless people should do when registering to vote — a topic that the Secretary of the State’s office addresses in its “Homeless Voter Fact Sheet.” (See more on that below.)
State law, meanwhile, requires an elector to be a “a bona fide resident” of the town where they’ve registered to vote — a “bona fide” residency that needs to be verified by a registrar.
Secretary of the State Assistant Director of Communication Roger Senserrich also provided a copy of these resources as ones that attorneys use when this question arises around what qualifies as a voter’s “bona fide residence.”
Earlier this week, two of the eight New Haveners who listed 168 Davenport as their address when voting early — a homeless couple named Yaneiz Perez and Joel Torres — told the Independent that they cast their ballots in the Ward 3 alder race for challenger Miguel Pittman in exchange for a free meal from Pittman’s Congress Avenue restaurant. They also said that Pittman’s wife and campaign ally Sandra told them to list their address at the polls as 168 Davenport, even though they don’t reside there.
Miguel and Sandra Pittman dismissed both accusations as false. They said they did not promise meals in exchange for votes; they said they did not tell anyone to put down any address where they don’t live; they said they do not know Perez and Torres and don’t understand why they told a reporter this story. They also pointed out that they have spent years and years serving free food to Hill neighbors in need, a form of public service that predates and is independent of Pittman’s electoral political ambitions.
On Tuesday night, a preliminary count of machine, early, same-day registration, and absentee ballot votes appeared to show that Pittman lost to incumbent Democratic Alder Angel Hubbard 347-302.
On Wednesday, Yun said that the three-story building at 168 Davenport houses CCA’s offices on the ground floor as well as upstairs apartment-style shelters for homeless families.
She said that CCA currently has four families residing in the upper-floor units at 168 Davenport. CCA also has 13 other apartment-style shelter units spread out across different buildings in the Hill.
Yun said that the families who reside at CCA apartments typically stay in those units for 60, 90, or 120 days, long enough to help them “get their life in order” and “exit into permanent housing.”
Yun also said that, “when our clients come in, we give them a letter of verification of address,” thereby allowing them to register to vote at their temporary CCA address.
So. What should someone who is homeless do when they want to vote?
The Secretary of the State’s “Homeless Voter Fact Sheet” states that if you are 18 or older, a U.S. citizen, a “bona fide resident” of a town in Connecticut, and, if convicted of a felony, have completed confinement, then you are eligible to vote.
“Courts have said that an individual is a resident of a town if they have some nexus to that particular town, and there is an intention to return to that town when absent from it,” the fact sheet states. “This could be a town that you have spent time in, slept in, and intend to go back to, even if you are not presently there.”
That fact sheet continues: “Your physical address determines where you vote, not your mailing address. A mailing address is the place where you are able to receive mail and your physical address is where you are located. For example, your mailing address could be a local shelter or post office, while your physical address could be a particular place such as a park bench. You must be responsible to check for mail at the address provided.”
Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen (DESK) asks clients if they’d like to register to vote as part of a general intake process, according to Executive Director Steve Werlin.
“Usually, people say no, to be honest,” Werlin said in an interview Wednesday. “If you feel a system has burned you, you’re not likely to want to participate.”
Those who do want to vote but do not have a permanent address can decide to participate in DESK’s mailbox program, Werlin said. They can then register to vote with the organization’s address as their mailing address.
In general, while DESK will share information about election dates, Werlin said that the organization does not actively recruit people to vote.
Laura Glesby contributed to this report.