Motivated Muslim Voters Could Prove Consequential In Key Swing States

The year’s election could be the one where Muslim American voters really make the difference.

Immigration Policy Center (USIPC) at the University of California, San Diego, found that Muslim voters in Arizona and Georgia, two swing states with sizable Muslim populations, were more motivated to vote in 2020 than ever before and that they could influence the outcome of the presidential election in their states, as well as local elections.

In Michigan ― where more than 270,000 Muslims constitute nearly 2.75% of the population ― Bernie Sanders won the 2016 Democratic primary over Hillary Clinton in part because of Muslim voters.

She suspects that some Muslims in her community didn’t vote in 2016 in part because they falsely assumed their votes were insignificant and because there were few initiatives to correct those views.

“Unfortunately, I think people in the Muslim community [in Arizona] do have that delusion that because we are a red state, their vote doesn’t matter,” said Jafri.

But since 2016, she said she’s seen a dramatic increase in civic engagement in her Muslim community and she hopes more Muslim Americans will follow suit.

In Arizona, more than 86% of Muslim voters said it was “absolutely essential” to have a president who understood the issues facing Muslims in the U.S., according to data from the USIPC. Many of these voters pointed to immigration, police brutality and health care reform as their top priorities. .

Florida now has approximately 150,000 registered Muslim voters, said Nadia Ahmad, the co-founder of Muslim Delegates and Allies Coalition and a co-director of Muslims for Biden’s 50-state voter mobilization effort. .

Ahmad, who called this year’s level of civic engagement by Muslims unprecedented, pointed to the 2000 election, which was ultimately decided by 537 Florida votes, as evidence that Muslim voters can have impact.

It’s a beautiful thing to see,” said Vetnah Monessar, a Florida-based community organizer and the founder of MASA, an organization that seeks to advance equity for Muslims in the state.

“There’s a lot of reasons why the community should get out to vote, especially when we’re a targeted community ― from the Muslim ban to hate crimes to our communities being disregarded.

Suswell said it was important for Muslim Americans to participate in every election. “We should be looking at beyond trusting any one presidential administration, and we should look to hold all of our elected leaders accountable to serve our communities and specifically communities of Black and brown people who are most marginalized.”.

She didn’t vote in the 2016 election, largely because she never imagined Trump would win.

Nida Allam, who became the first Muslim American woman elected to office in North Carolina when she was elected to the Durham County Board of Commissioners this year, has been meeting with Muslims across the state to remind them of their voting power in their swing state. .

That’s where a few Muslim families sitting out the election can leave Republicans in power in our state legislature in North Carolina,” said Allam, who is currently working to advance two state judicial campaigns

Visit your state election office website to find out if you can vote by mail