A large majority of the Indian community here in America is set to vote for former US Vice President Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris, according to a survey released on Wednesday.
According to a survey conducted by 2020 Indian American Attitude Survey (IAAS), 72 per cent of registered Indian American voters plan to vote for Biden, 22 per cent intend to vote for Trump, 3 per cent will support a third-party candidate while 3 per cent do not intend to vote at all.
The 2020 Indian American Attitudes Survey--of 936 Indian American U.S. citizens -- was conducted by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Pennsylva in partnership with the polling firm YouGov between September 1 and September 20.
Ramesh Kapur, a Democratic Party fund-raiser, told The New York Times, "We have arrived," and added, "Even though they are supposedly saving taxes, to the Indian-American community, when you get the president of the United States saying to an elected official, 'Go home,' that scares the hell out of us."
According to the NYT, the presence of Harris -- whose mother was from India -- has a galvsing effect on a voting block that could help the former Vice President in states like Florida, Michigan and Pennsylva.
The survey further read that 45 per cent of respondents indicated that Harris's selection made them more likely to vote in November. "45 per cent of respondents indicated that Harris's selection made them more likely to vote in November while just 10 percent indicated that it made them less likely to vote (see figure 15). Another 40 percent said it made no difference either way. In all, the Harris pick does seem to have galvzed a large section of the Indian American community with respect to turning out to vote," it said.
The data show that Indian Americans continue to be strongly attached to the Democratic Party, with little indication of a shift toward the Republican Party.
"In addition, Indian Americans view US-India relations as a low priority issue in this electoral cycle, emphasizing instead nationally salient issues such as healthcare and the economy. As the political behavior of Indian Americans in the United States gains influence, this study provides an empirically robust and analytically nuanced picture of the diversity in attitudes of this important demographic," the study observed.
The US Presidential elections is set to be held on November 3, this year.
( With inputs from ANI )
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