Kaitlyn Hughes & Spencer Thomas | features editor & editor-in-chief 

There is a concrete wall that supports I-376 behind the Allegheny County Jail, where large spray painted letters read So I lost you? You lost me a long time ago.

The message, though its original intent is unknown, rings true for many in the homeless encampment nearby.

While many citizens are making plans for how they will vote in the 2024 presidential election, some who are unhoused are left ostracized or disinterested.

One such individual, Barbara Boden, 46, has not voted since she was 18 years old.

It is hard for those who are homeless or have low incomes to get out to the polls, she said.

While Boden is registered to vote, she has not been able to learn about the candidates’ policies, which deters her from wanting to vote.

“I’m still deciding,” she said.

Boden said that there are a lot of people within the encampment who are registered, but they are uneducated on what each party stands for.

The 2024 election will have record turnout, supported by a satellite voting center on Forbes Avenue, less than half a mile from the camp. As of 2012, only 10% of homeless Americans vote each year, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless.

Boden estimates that in her community, the number is less than 5%.

“Other people [government officials] are running everything without the knowledge of the whole community,” Boden said.

Several dozen tents line either side of the Eliza Furnace Trail. One of these makeshift homes displayed a sign that reads “TRUMP VANCE 2024.”

“We’re like street rats. We’re going to find food everyday and come back to eat. There’s not enough time to learn stuff,” Boden said. “A lot of people, they’re too focused on daily survival.”

Despite a lack of concern regarding voting, Beth Turnbull, deputy director of communications for Allegheny County, explained how voter registration accommodates those without residence.

On a registration form, there is a requirement to provide a mailing address so the state can send voting information by mail.

“For the unhoused population in the city, for mail-in voting, it does not have to be a fixed address,” Turnbull said.

The state will accept the address of a nearby shelter, even if a person is not currently living there, a nearby religious center, General Delivery, if offered by the local post office, a P.O. box or the home address of a friend or family member who lives nearby.

If none of these options are viable, there is an alternative.

“[You] can technically use a description of where you live,” Turnbull said.

There is a section on the application form where someone can identify the cross street of where they are staying. This helps people indicate their residence, even if it is unconventional.

Bethany Hallam, Allegheny County councilperson at-large and fourth year law student at Duquesne, has experienced homelessness herself. She said that this aspect of the registration process is important.

“It’s more than just a tent. It’s more than just sleeping under a bridge. It’s actually their community. It’s their home. They call the other homeless folks experiencing homelessness around them their family,” Hallam said. “It is their home. Even though it’s not what you and I imagine as a home.”

Hallam works with her boyfriend Muhammad Ali Nasir, better known professionally as MAN-E, who is the advocacy and policy civic engagement coordinator for 1Hood Media Academy and founder of Community Care & Resistance in Pittsburgh.

They do direct engagement with the homeless population twice a week. Oftentimes they can be found handing out resources such as food, clothes, hygiene products and more.

They also try to spur conversation around the upcoming election.

“I think the biggest part that we try to push is even before registering, even before voting, is ‘what are you voting for?’ I think that’s the part that a lot of folks leave out. They need to understand why it’s important that they vote,” Hallam said.

A lot of people don’t know they are able to vote when they are homeless or have a criminal record, she said.

Though Hallam and MAN-E spend a lot of time advocating for the homeless population to vote, for some there is nothing they can say or do to get them to participate in elections.

But MAN-E said there are steps that can be taken to end this issue and get those without residence involved in the political sphere.

“We have to humanize them. We have to remind people that even though somebody’s going through a situation, they’re not defined by that situation,” he said.

Hallam saw multiple candidates visit the Pittsburgh area, but none of them went to the homeless encampments to speak. She said she understands the frustration of unhoused people and their choice not to vote.

“No matter who gets elected, their lives don’t get any better,” Hallam said. “No matter who wins any election, it’s a lose-lose situation for everyone. They are almost always left out of the conversation.”