USCMO’s Voter Registration Drive Tops the One Million Voters Mark for 2016 Election
(Washington, D.C., 11/2/2016) – The US Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO), the largest coalition of national, regional, and local Muslim organizations, is proud to announce today that the response to the One Million Voters Drive it proclaimed in December 2015 and Get out The Vote campaign across the nation has been overwhelmingly successful. Volunteers, member organizations and local communities have responded by organizing voter registration booths at more than 2500 mosques, 500 schools, and many community centers nationwide, and during special holidays such as our National Muslim Voter Registration Day on Eid al-adha, September 12, 2016.
Reports from various cities across the United States indicate that thousands of new Muslim voters have registered this year, surpassing any previous year in the history of the community. We believe there are two factors that have contributed to the success of this campaign and the high turnout of newly registered voters. One is due to the hard work of many Muslim organizations, activists, Imams, and local community leaders. The second is largely due to the highly charged political environment, the attack on the Muslim community and other minorities, and the serious concern over the sharp increase of hate crimes on the Muslim community.
“With large concentrations of Muslim voters in key swing states such as Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Virginia, the American Muslim population is positioned to tip those elections and to determine who will be the next President of the United States,” sais USCMO Secretary General Oussama Jammal.
According to the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), there were an estimated 500,000 Muslim voters in 2012. Based upon the strong response compared to previous years, we believe we have reached our target goal of 1 million voters. Moreover, according to CAIR’s October election survey, 86 percent of registered Muslim voters intend to vote in this year’s presidential election.
“The massive outpouring of support and participation in the campaign illustrates the seriousness of this election among the American Muslim community and their determination and dedication to be a part of this year’s critical election,” Jammal said.
Currently, the USCMO is offering only estimated numbers as the final statistics will not be available until after the elections due to the different voter registration deadlines in each state.
“We are very pleased with the results of this campaign,” Jammal said, “because it shows decisively how American Muslims are contributing members of society and part of the social fabric of this country.”
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