The Indian American Voter In 2020 – The Indian Effect on US Elections

Indians account for a sizeable percentage of the US immigrant population. Want to know the Indian American voter in 2020?

With elections around the corner, both the Democrat and Republic parties in the USA are looking at which way the Indian American vote will swing.

The Republics count on the public courtship between the American president and Indian Prime Minister. There’s also the Kamala Harris factor to be considered.  

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The Indian American Voter In 2020

There are over 4,161,000 Indian in the USA. The total number of Indian American voters is over 12 lakh or 0.5% of the total voter population.

Of these Indian Americans, 71.2% were born overseas while 63% are US citizens. Traditionally, Indian Americans have favored the democrats because of their allegiance to lower tax rates and pro-immigrant stand.

 According to AAPI data, 7% of the Indian Americans born in the USA are likely to shift their vote while the shift amongst those born overseas is likely to be around 15%.

In light of this, the growing support for Trump may seem counter intuitive but can be explained by the link to politics in India. Many Indian Americans see a connection between President Trump and Indian Prime Minister Modi’s stress on nationalism.

According to the survey, men were the driving force behind the increase in Republican votes.

The Indian American Voter In 2020 – The Swing

According to a recent survey by the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI), 28% of Indian Americans are likely to vote Republican. In 2016, only 16% of Indian American voters voted for Trump.

On the other hand, 84% of Indian Americans voted for Barack Obama in 2012, 77% voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and this year only 66% say they support Joe Biden.

If the voters who are still undecided split their vote along the same ratio, the Republicans could get majority. However, the democrats have woken up to the swing and are banking on the Indian connection to Biden’s running mate, Kamala Harris.

They are also taking a pro-Kashmiri support and counting on the resolutions passed by several predominantly liberal American city councils against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act announced earlier in India.

When Is The US Election

The 2020 US Elections are scheduled for the beginning of November. However, the date may change if the country is not able to control the COVID-19 pandemic spread.

The power to change the election dates is with the US Congress but it must be held before January the following year when the constitution outlines a date for the next president’s inauguration.