Breadcrumb
Arab Americans await Michigan with hope and trepidation
Americans of Arab heritage are keeping an especially close eye on the , where Arab-Americans comprise more than five percent of the vote. Michigan has yet to declare its result.
When Trump was narrowly in the lead earlier today, one social media user commented: "Trump taking the lead in michigan?????? these arab americans in detroit really failed us."
Ayoub witnessed what he described as "voter suppression" in Wayne Country.
"About 60 Republican challengers showed up and began challenging every ballot coming in, slowing down the counting of the ballots. We had to get volunteers out there. Now, a lot of people are out there," he tweeted.
"There are still a lot of votes to count, but we should know by this afternoon on Michigan."
The Arab American Institute's Executive Director Maya Berry told °®Âþµº last week that Arab Americans have the ability to be the margin of victory in certain areas.Berry pointed specifically to Michigan, where four-years-ago Trump's margin of victory was less than 11,000 votes.
Read more:
"Arab Americans comprise more than five percent of the vote in that state. So do we have the ability to in certain areas literally be the margin of victory? We do."
|
Reacting to reports on Tuesday that the Michigan city of Dearborn had "short but steady lines everywhere", Berry tweeted: "Looking good #YallaVote."
More detailed polling will reveal exactly how Arab Americans voted this election. A national exit poll shared by the BBC that 58 percent of the ethnicity 'Other' voted for Democratic nominee Biden.Forty percent of this category - which includes Native Americans and Arab Americans, voted for President Trump.
Results from the city of Dearborn, Michigan's eighth largest city and home to a large Arab population, will give further indication as to how Arab Americans voted.
Journalist Ali Harb heard from Arab American voters in Dearborn that the "turnout has been amazing".
|
A nationwide poll of 805 Arab-American, conducted by the Arab American Institute last month found that was leading Republican opponent as the preferred candidate among .
A staggering 59 percent said they are casting their ballots for Biden, while only 35 percent believed they would vote for Republican candidate President Trump.
Morning Consult data on voters who cast their ballot early. Fifty-one percent of early voters of other races or ethnicities - such as Asian Americans, Native Americans and Arab Americans - were most likely to mail in their ballot.
The use of mail in ballots has been especially common this eleciton year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Analysts predict that as more mail in votes are counted, Biden's lead in certain states could become more pronounced.
Trump has railed for months against mail-in ballots, charging without evidence that they could be fraudulent, as some 100 million Americans voted ahead of Election Day amid the coronavirus health crisis.
Meanwhile, Muslim Congresswomen and Rashida Tlaib secured a second term in on Tuesday, in a big win for the Democrats so-called "The Squad".Palestinian-American Tlaib and Somali-American Omar were the first Muslim women elected to Congress in 2018.
Follow us on , and to stay connected