The share of Indian-origin voters in the United States has been steadily increasing over the years. A majority of them have always supported the Democratic Party in U.S. presidential elections. Last Sunday PM Narendra Modi appealed to 50,000 Indian-Americans who attended the ‘Howdy, Modi’ event to vote for Trump in 2020. If Modi’s appeal is successful, Trump’s fortunes could change in some counties.
Growing clout
The U.S. midterm election in 2018 was racially and ethnically most diverse ever. Asians are steadily growing as a substantive voter base in the U.S. Asians formed 3.5% of U.S. voters in the 2018 midterm polls.
Steady rise
A significant force
As of 2016, of the 41 lakh-odd Indian origin people in the U.S., close to 18 lakh (44%) were of voting age. Among Asians, Chinese and Filipionos had formed the largest share of voters in the U.S. Indian-origin people had formed the third-largest block of voters among Asians.
Asian voters in the U.S.
Democratic bent
Of the Indian-origin registered voters in the U.S., 84% wanted more stringent gun laws, according to a survey in 2018 and 76% wanted undocumented immigrants to become U.S. citizens. Due to such opinions, 54% of them did not favour the Republicans in 2018. The disconnect with the current dispensation showed in their voting behaviour in the 2016 presidential polls.
How Indian-origin people voted in U.S.
Hillary Clinton won 11 out of the 14 counties in which Indian-origin voters exceeded 5% of the population. The vote % of candidates in 2016 in those counties is listed in the table.
Hillary Clinton vs Donald Trump
Source: 2018 Asian American Voter Survey, Pew Survey
