The US presidential elections are scheduled for November 3 (Archive)
New Delhi:
More than 70 percent of registered American Indian voters plan to vote for Joe Biden in next month’s US presidential election, according to the 2020 American Indian Attitude Survey (IAAS), and only 22 percent of the rest will vote for Donald Trump.
The data, based on responses from 936 American Indians surveyed online during the first 20 days of September, also says that “in line with previous studies … community members continue to identify strongly with the Democratic Party”; 56 percent of those surveyed said they identified as a Democrat, while only 15 percent viewed themselves as a Republican.
Americans of Indian origin too, the report adds, do not view the relationship between the United States and India as a major factor in their voting decision, something that is likely to run against President Donald Trump, who has emphasized his close ties to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and called for “great support from India” in an attempt to win over the community.
In any case, according to the poll, the majority of Indian-Americans believe that Democrats do a better job managing ties between the United States and India.
Meanwhile, Trump’s Democratic vice presidential candidate for Biden, Sen. Kamala Harris, the first black and American woman of Indian and African descent to win the ticket, has “galvanized” the American Indian community in favor of the Democrats according to the report.
In August, Ms Harris, a junior senator from California, made headlines across India after speaking about her mother (Shyamala Gopalan) and mentioning her fondness for idli and masala dosa.
Democrat-Elected Vice President Kamala Harris Has “Galvanized” American Indians
The vote of American Indians, the second-largest immigrant group in the United States, is in the limelight even though the community represents less than one percent of registered American voters.
Republicans hoped for increased support for Trump, particularly after he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi exchanged lavish and widely covered visits; Trump visited in February while PM Modi “Hello, Modi!” The event in Houston was in September of last year.
The Reuters news agency reported that the “speculation” says the community may not favor Biden, as he could be tougher on India on issues such as human rights and civil liberties that activists say are increasingly at risk. with Prime Minister Modi.
But, according to the report’s authors, “the big bottom line is that there is little evidence of … popular narratives (indicating) widespread defection by Democratic voters toward Trump.”
Prime Minister Modi and US President Donald Trump in “Howdy Modi!” in Houston in September of last year
“There is little evidence of a significant evolution in partisan alliances since 2016. The vast majority (91 percent) of Indian Americans who voted for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016 plan to support Biden in 2020,” the authors said. .
Instead, voters who were polled cited the economy and healthcare as their top two concerns in the lead-up to the vote. Ties between the United States and India were near the bottom of the list.
Among the other findings of the poll is this interesting note: Although American Indians of all faiths prefer Biden to Trump, support for the Democratic candidate is significantly stronger among Muslims (82%) than among Hindus (67%). ).
Meanwhile, the Christian community leans more toward Trump, with 45 percent of those polled preferring the Republican as US president, whose health condition following hospitalization for a COVID-19 infection has also made headlines.
Poll of 936 American Indians Suggests Community Will Vote for Joe Biden Over Donald Trump
Both American Indian men and women prefer Biden to Trump, and by considerable margins. Sixty-nine percent of women and 68 percent of men intend to vote for the Democrat, while only 19 percent of women and 24 percent of men plan to vote for Trump.
The survey was a collaboration between the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Johns Hopkins-SAIS, and the University of Pennsylvania.
The United States will vote for a new president, the first national election since the coronavirus pandemic swept the world, early next month.
Early voting for the elections has already begun and, according to a CNBC report, these have “crushed” 2016 levels amid concerns about following social distancing rules during regular voting.
The CNBC report claims that more than 10.6 million Americans have already cast their votes (it is unknown how many Americans of Indian descent have) and Democrats have a strong head start.
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