Poll: 89 Percent of Muslim Voters Picked Obama

While President-elect Barack Obama's defenders will swear on a stack of Korans that he is not supported by Islamic terrorists, a recent post-election survey shows Obama's tremendous popularity among US Muslims.

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Unfortunately the survey doesn't identify how many respondents are -- or support -- Islamic terrorists, nor does it identify the immigration status of the respondents. The American Muslim Task Force on Civil Rights and Elections (AMT) today released the results of a poll indicating that almost 90 percent of American Muslim voters picked Barack Obama in Tuesday's election. That survey of more than 600 American Muslim voters also indicated that just two percent of respondents cast their ballots for Sen. John McCain. Poll Findings: -- Of those who voted, 89 percent cast their ballot for Barack Obama. -- Just two percent of respondents said they voted for John McCain. -- Most of the respondents (78 percent) reside in ten states: Illinois, New York, Virginia, Michigan, California, Texas, New Jersey, Maryland, Florida, and Pennsylvania. -- Ninety-five percent of respondents said they voted in the presidential election, whether at the polls or by absentee ballot. This is the highest American Muslim voter turnout ever reported. -- Of those who voted, almost 14 percent said they did so for the first time. -- One-fourth of respondents said they volunteered for or donated money to a political campaign in this election. -- American Muslim voters are increasingly identifying themselves with the Democratic Party. More than two-thirds said they consider themselves Democrats. Most of the rest, or 29 percent, still consider themselves independent. Only four percent said they are Republicans. -- More than two-thirds (63 percent) of respondents said the economy was the most important issue that affected their voting decision. This was followed by 16 percent who said the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were the most important. (In January 2008, a sample of 1000 Muslim voters rated education and civil rights as the top issues.) For complete poll results, click here: At a news conference last week at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, representatives of AMT and partner organizations shared the results of the poll. Speaking at the news conference were AMT Chairman Dr. Agha Saeed, Mahdi Bray, executive director of the Muslim American Society-Freedom Foundation (MAS-FF), and Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). "We are pleased to see such a high turnout by American Muslim voters, particularly in states that helped determine the outcome of the election. This shows that the American Muslim community is fully engaged in civic life," said CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad.

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