New York Candidates Court Muslim Voters
October 23, 2012
Politicians across America are making calculations about which blocs of voters to court as they seek the votes needed to win their respective elections on November 6. Greater political engagement among Muslim Americans is drawing the attention of politicians in Brooklyn, New York.
The Arab-American Association of New York recently held a Meet the Candidates forum at a school auditorium in Brooklyn. The event offered the public an opportunity to grill candidates for local office and to register to vote.
Singer-songwriter Omnia Hegazy, a first generation Muslim American, says casting a ballot helps address what she says is the ignorance of many politicians about her community.
“They’re not aware of the racial profiling, the things that we go through, the scrutiny that we go through on a daily basis, and I think it would be in their interest to actually learn about our community and what are we, who are we, and how we are just as American as anybody else," he said.
Tom McCarthy is a Republican running for the New York State Assembly. He admitted he knows little about allegations that New York police spied on Muslim-Americans based on their religion. But he said he is willing to listen to his Muslim constituents.
“They are an immigrant community primarily, and many people are not yet registered to vote, but I think that will change as time goes on and more and more of the community obtain their citizenship and register to vote," he said.
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