WASHINGTON – A leading American Muslims group launched on Tuesday, November 1, an election resource website that prominently features the group’s first ever national voter guide, including a nationwide congressional scorecard and presidential guide.
“Guaranteeing that American Muslims are an informed citizenry that votes is vital to the success of American democracy,” the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Director of Government Affairs Department, Robert McCaw, said in a statement sent to AboutIslam.net.
“CAIR’s nationwide congressional scorecard is a first for the organization in ensuring that U.S. Muslims are able to determine how their members of Congress voted on issues important to the community,” McCaw added.
CAIR’s Muslims GOTV.com is the latest element in the Muslim civil rights organization’s efforts to enhance Muslim participation in national and state elections and amplify the Muslim community’s voice on election day.
The website features videos encouraging Muslim voters to register to vote and turn out on election day, and includes resources on registering to vote, absentee and early voting, and locating polling stations, among other CAIR produced election materials.
CAIR’s “2016 National Voter Guide” offers resources to assist Muslims nationwide as they prepare to vote in the November election.
CAIR’s voter guide includes a congressional scorecard and presidential voter guide.
The Congressional scorecards reflect the voting performance of representatives from the US Congress.
The votes of each legislator have been rated positive (+) or negative (-) depending on how closely their votes on relevant legislation corresponded with civil rights and social justice priorities identified by CAIR. The criteria selected for each topic is rooted in legislation introduced and voted upon in 2015-2016.
The presidential voter guide includes a short biography of Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican Party nominee Donald Trump and a summary of their views and positions on the key campaign issues of economy, healthcare, domestic national security, views on Islam and Muslims, acting as Commander-in-Chief, immigration, civil rights, and education.
Electronic copies of the guide will be distributed to the American Muslim community throughout the nation.
Nationwide, CAIR has launched a number of similar Muslim voter empowerment efforts in this election cycle.
Along with CAIR, Muslim advocacy organization MPower Change has also launched a hashtag campaign, #MyMuslimVote, to build grassroots Muslim political power and amplifying an authentic narrative of Muslim communities.
In addition to its hashtag campaign, MPower Change organized National Khutba Day, a nonpartisan event on Oct. 7 that encouraged Muslim Americans to vote (a khutba is a sermon that an imam delivers during Friday prayer).
Nearly 50 sermons were held at mosques across 17 states, including the key battleground states of Florida and Ohio.