CAIR to Release Poll of Muslim Voter’s Preference on Presidential Pick Between Obama and Romney

Democracy, elections and voting at Democracy Chronicles

CAIR to Release Poll of Muslim Voters on Presidential Pick

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today released the results of an informal exit poll indicating that more than 85 percent of American Muslim voters picked President Obama in Tuesday’s election.

[NOTE: A similar CAIR exit poll in 2008 showed that 89 percent of American Muslim voters picked then-candidate Barack Obama. Two percent of respondents said they voted for Sen. John McCain.]

CAIR’s email survey of more than 650 American Muslim voters indicates that just four percent of respondents cast their ballots for Mitt Romney.

Poll Findings:

• 95.5 of the Muslim voters said they went to the polls on November 6.
• 85.7 percent cast their ballots to re-elect President Obama.
• 4.4 percent of respondents said they voted for Mitt Romney.
• Just over two percent (2.2) of respondents said they voted for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson. A similar percentage (2.2) of respondents said they voted for Green Party candidate Jill Stein. (NOTE: More than four percent of respondents declined to say who they voted for.)
• States with the highest number of survey respondents (in descending order) were California, New York, Texas, Virginia, Illinois, Florida, Michigan, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Ohio.
• Of those who voted, 8.3 percent said they did so for the first time.
• 41.5 percent said they consider themselves Democrats. Most of the rest, or 40.6 percent, consider themselves politically independent. Only 7.4 percent said they are Republican.

“The fact that more than 95 percent of Muslim respondents went to the polls is a clear indication that they are fully participating in our nation’s political process and are part of the fabric of America,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. “Muslim voters in swing states such as Florida, Virginia and Ohio seemed to have played a critical role in tipping the balance in the president’s re-election victory.”

These results support the findings of a pre-election CAIR survey of 500 Muslim voters that rated jobs and the economy, education, health care policy, Medicare and Social Security, and civil rights as the top issues. That survey indicated that 1 in 4 Muslim voters remained undecided about their presidential pick.

“It appears that undecided Muslim voters broke decisively in President Obama’s favor at the polls,” said CAIR National Legislative Director Corey Saylor.

Saylor also expressed appreciation that a number of anti-Muslim candidates were rejected by voters nationwide.

CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.