13 October 2016•Update: 14 October 2016
By Esra Kaymak Avci
WASHINGTON
Seventy-two percent of American Muslim voters say they will vote for Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton in the upcoming presidential elections, according to a survey released Thursday.
With less than a month before the Nov. 8 poll, the survey by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) provides a snapshot of the Muslim community's views about the elections.
Just 4 percent of Muslims would vote for the Republican Party's candidate Donald Trump and 3 percent prefer the Green Party's Jill Stein. Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson is polling at 2 percent.
Still, 12 percent of respondents are undecided and 7 percent refused to respond.
Another highlight from the survey is that 62 percent said the Republican Party is unfriendly to Muslims. That’s up from the 51 percent in 2012 who felt the same.
Days after a deadly terror attack in California, Trump stirred controversy when he called for a complete ban on Muslims entering the U.S.
His suggestion was embraced by a number of the nation's governors -- mostly Republican --who i said that they would not allow Syrian refugees into their states after the Obama administration announced it would accept 10,000 Syrian refugees during the 2016 fiscal year.
Topping the list of most important concerns to American Muslim voters was civil rights, according to CAIR.
That was followed by education, jobs and the economy, protecting Muslim students from bullying and harassment, Trump's proposed ban on Muslims and terrorism and national security.
It is not a surprise that 85 percent believed islamophobia and anti-Muslim sentiment in the U.S. has increased in the past year, according to the survey. Only 5 percent believed it decreased and 10 percent did not provide an answer.
Moreover, 30 percent of respondents say they have experienced discrimination or profiling in the past year, the survey said.
Regarding Washington’s overseas operations to defeat Daesh, 47 percent said the U.S. did not give enough support, whereas 26 percent said it gave enough support and 27 percent refused to answer.
The telephone survey of more than 800 Muslims was conducted between Sept. 7 and Oct. 5.
13 Oct 2016 Thu 14:2
