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"This shows that the American Muslim community is fully engaged in civic life,” said Awad. (Google photo) |
CAIRO — Nearly 89 percent of American Muslims voted for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in this week's elections, which saw the highest Muslim turnout in US history, a new survey has found.
"We are pleased to see such a high turnout by American Muslim voters, particularly in states that helped determine the outcome of the election," Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), told a press conference on Friday, November 7.
A poll by the American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and Election (AMT) found that 89 percent of Muslims voted for Obama in the US elections on Tuesday.
Only two percent of Muslim voters cast ballot for Republican candidate John McCain.
The poll, which included 637 people, showed that among Muslims voters, almost 14 percent voted for the first time in the US elections.
Economy was the most important issue for almost two-thirds (63%) of US Muslim voters and the Iraq and Afghanistan wars (16%).
Obama, a 47-year-old Illinois senator, crushed Republican John McCain in America's longest and most expensive presidential elections on Tuesday.
He captured an estimated 52 percent of the popular vote and 349 electoral votes to McCain’s 46 percent and 162 electoral votes, with Missouri and North Carolina still too close to call.
Engaged
The poll showed that the Muslim turnout in the US elections reached 95 percent, the highest Muslim turnout in US history.
"This shows that the American Muslim community is fully engaged in civic life," said Awad.
Of those who voted in the elections, 55 percent were females and 45 percent were males.
The poll found that one-fourth of Muslims volunteered or donated money to a political campaign in the US elections.
Ahead of the November 4 elections, leading American Muslim organizations stepped up their long-running campaigns to mobilize the Muslim community for the presidential vote.
The survey also found that American Muslims are increasingly identify themselves as Democrats.
Two-thirds of Muslims consider themselves Democrats, 29 percent independent and 4 percent Republicans, the poll showed.
American Muslims are estimated between seven to eight million.
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