"It's important to me to vote because I feel like I'm part of something, that I have a say," says Dave M., a resident at Centre of Hope, one of Calgary's homeless shelters.

Like thousands of voters across the country, the 31-year-old has concerns he wants to see addressed.

"Especially since I am in a shelter program right now. I have needs and purpose and I have a say. And I'm not just someone on the street or somebody in a shelter. I want to know I have a say in Canada, that I'm not just pushed away into a shelter."

Dave, a former construction worker, says he is concerned specifically about justice issues and about Conservative Leader Stephen Harper's prison plans.

"Harper wants to create all of these mega-prisons, like the States," Dave says. "How is that going to help a person with an addiction? How is that going to help a person who doesn't know any better? I think there's more to it than just throwing them in jail. It doesn't work for every person."

Dave will be one of a small percentage of Calgary's homeless to vote.

"I don't think anyone should complain if they don't vote," he says. "It's important that everyone vote in this election, whether they're homeless, or whether they're a stay-at-home parent. Everyone should have a say in choosing our government. That's the beautiful thing about democracy."

However, the general homeless population doesn't respond very well, says John Rowland, an official with the Calgary Drop-In and Rehab Centre.

"If you ask a homeless person, whether they're going to vote, their immediate response is 'Why bother? It doesn't make any difference anyway.'

"For people who live in poverty, who are on the edge, what is important to them is very much right now," Rowland says. "If a politician does something for them in two years, that is not important to them. They don't have the luxury of thinking two years ahead. In order to think two years in the future, you need to be fairly secure in the fact you're going to eat tonight and for the next six months at least. If you don't know where your next meal is coming from, that's what your primary concern is."

Rowland says if the homeless population is engaged, they will respond. Shelters in Calgary are trying to facilitate the engagement.

At the Drop-In Centre, Rowland is setting up candidate forums over the next couple of weeks so potential voters can be informed about who is running in the riding.

He says they've received more than 500 voter cards at the Drop In Centre — about the number of people who filed their taxes from the centre last year.

"We want to engage people in civic issues," Rowland says. "Hopefully, we'll see something happen here. There probably are people who will vote. I think if political leaders do come in, people will vote."

Elections Canada will be setting up an information table at the Mustard Seed April 18 and 19, at the Inn from the Cold site April 18 and at the Drop-In Centre on April 25, to inform clientele about voting.

"What we will be discussing through those information sessions is how to vote, methods of voting and identification," says Inn from the Cold executive director Yvette Rasmussen.

At the Mustard Seed, communications specialist Alyssa Burnham says they do what they can to make sure it's possible for their clients to participate in the election. "Every time there is an election, we post signs to inform our clients of the impending election date. We try to make sure we have vehicles and drivers available to take those who are interested in voting to polling stations."

Shelters are trying to make it easier for homeless people to register to vote in the May 2 election.

All voters have to prove their identify, says Frank Saulnier, a spokesperson for Elections Canada. "They have to show a piece of identification with their name on it," he says. "It could be a library card or a social insurance card, a birth certificate or a Veterans Affairs health identification card."

Individuals must also prove their address, which can be a challenge for those without a roof over their head.

To insure their clients have a designated polling station, Burnham says the Mustard Seed will provide letters of residency, "which gives them an address and allows them to vote in the riding where the Mustard Seed is located."

Saulnier says if someone didn't have any identification or proof of residency, there is one more way they can be eligible to vote. "At the polling station, someone can vouch for them to be a person that lives or is eligible to vote in the division," he says.