NY Mayoral Candidate Promises
“More of a Voice” to Muslims
By Hazem Kira
New York: As one more sign that
800, 000 Muslim New Yorkers, at least 250, 000 of whom are
eligible to vote, can play an important role in the upcoming
mayoral elections, the Manhattan borough president, C. Virginia
Fields, told leaders of the New York Chapter of the American
Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and Elections (AMT) that
”she opposes the Patriot Act” and as mayor would
create a more inclusive "New York City, in which Muslims
would have more of a voice.”
The American Muslim Taskforce is a coalition of 11 largest
national Muslim organizations and has played a pivotal role
in uniting and galvanizing the second Muslim bloc vote in
2004.
According to the New York Sun, “she told the American
Muslim Taskforce that she does not support, the Patriot Act
because it "violates civil rights." The AMT-NY delegation
was led by its Coordinator Imam El-Hajj Talib Abdul Rashid.
"Coming out of the segregated South, I know what segregation
is about. I know what racism is about," Ms. Fields, one
of four Democratic candidates for mayor, said. "Discrimination,
pre-9/11, post-9/11, is unacceptable. All of us have an obligation
to make sure that policies are in place to make sure it doesn't
happen."
Lenora Fulani, leader of the independence Party, also addressed
the group. She asked the Muslim community to vote for her
party so that her party could amass more political clout.
Candidates are beginning to recognize the power of the Muslim
bloc vote. Although final numbers of American Muslims who
actually voted in 2004 are not available at this time, preliminary
studies show a rise in both absolute numbers and percentage
of actual to eligible voters. It is estimated that as a result
of the AMT’s mass outreach efforts many more new Muslim
voters were registered to vote in 2004. According to an AMA
post-election survey, 21 per cent of Muslims voting in the
election 2004 were first time voters.
This data is consistent with reports published in the mainstream
media quoting the University of Maryland researcher, James
Gimpel, “Registration levels for individuals with Arabic
names in places like San Jose, Los Angeles, Tampa and Queens
increased dramatically since 9/11.” Because not all
Muslims have Arabic sounding names, even Gimpel has undercounted
the Muslim vote. Prof. Gimpel noted that there has been a
dramatic increase in the registration number.
A breakdown of Muslim voters by age compared to national voters
yields the following results:
Age Muslim Americans All Americans
18 – 29 years 26% 17%
30-44 27% 33%
45 -59 28% 28%
60 or older 11% 22%
Declined to state 8% -
The trends in the Muslim community may be significantly different
than the mainstream: In the mainstream, senior citizens vote
at a higher percentage than the youth, in the Muslim community
it is the opposite. These comparative data indicate the need
for greater outreach and work among the older immigrant Muslim
voters.
A breakdown of Muslim voters by gender and age showed the
following results:
Age group Male Female
18 – 29 years 43% 57%
30-44 70% 30%
45 -59 78% 22%
60 or older 77% 23%
Muslim women voters lagged behind their male counterparts
by a ratio of 1 to 2. Though such a ratio is not uncommon
among relatively recent immigrant communities, these data
specify another area of community education work for national
organizations.
The AMT seeks to change these trends by setting up special
get-to-vote committees and by encouraging use of absentee
ballots.
Bloc vote in state and
city elections
As detailed below, in 2004 American Muslims were the most
cohesive vote in the nation. According to a number of post
election surveys, 93 per cent of Muslims voters voted together
as a bloc in 2004 compared to 72 per cent in the 2000 presidential
elections.
Muslim Vote 93%
Black Bloc Vote 89%
Evangelical Bloc Vote 78%
Jewish Bloc Vote 78%
Veterans Bloc Vote 57%
Hispanic Bloc Vote 55%
Catholic Bloc Vote 52%
The AMT has decided to apply the bloc vote at the state and
city level in 2005 and 2006 elections. “It is the same
principle and yields the same results”, says AMT National
Chair Dr. Agha Saeed.
This year five American Muslim candidates are running for
city council elections in New York. AMT-NY plans to hold town
hall meeting throughout the state to get Muslim candidates
to register to vote, educate them about issues and candidates,
get them to interact with various candidates, build a democratic
consensus, and get them out on the day of elections.
“A unified vote by 250, 000 Muslim New Yorkers will
make us a respected partner in city politics,” says
Imam El-Hajj Talib Abdul Rasheed, coordinator AMT-NY. “Our
task is to build a democratic consensus among the quarter
million eligible Muslim voters and to get them to vote on
the day of election.”
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