(Photo credit: ISPU/WikiCommons)
Hamed Chapman
Nearly 1.1 million Muslim American voters cast a ballot in the 2020 election, turning out in growing numbers large enough to swing the presidential race in key battleground states, according to a new report.
The analysis by Emgage, a leading Muslim American civic group, found that nearly three-quarters of registered Muslim voters in the US went to the polls at the last presidential elections, up by two percentage points compared to 2016, and 4 points higher than the average nationwide turnout at the poll.
The increase came after Emgage, which seeks to educate, engage and empower Muslim communities, launched a voter initiative campaign to galvanise an unprecedented one million Muslim Americans to vote in the 2020 presidential elections.
Its outreach includes “making 1.8 million calls, sending over 3.6 million text messages and over 400,000 mailers, knocking on over 20,000 doors, holding over 50 organising training sessions, and activating 672 volunteers nationwide.”
According to Emgage, CEO, Wa’el Alzayat, the Muslim community’s feeling of being under siege by its own government moved the organisation to activate the Muslim electorate.
“It wasn’t just enough just to be here. We wanted our people to show up. We wanted to drill down on election as part of a culture that happens every year,” said Alzayat.
“We wanted people in our community to get into the practice of being involved and feeling like their voice matters.” Although the community is relatively small, voter registration drives were also held at mosques, ads were run in local papers and a get-out-the-vote rally for Muslims was also held in Philadelphia.
In 12 states where the organisation signed up and mobilised Muslim voters, the number of registered Muslim voters grew by 27 per cent.
Mohamed Gula, National Organising Director at Emgage, said the increase in voter participation in 2020 was “all about the conversations that were being had — it’s the belief that we are a part of the American fabric.”
As part of this effort, the organisation hosted a “Million Muslim Votes Summit”, during which now-President Joe Biden historically addressed Muslim American communities for the first time.
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