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Elections 2000:
AFP Report: Muslim vote went to Bush, says survey
WASHINGTON, Nov 17 2000: More than 70 per cent of Muslim American voters voted for Texas Governor George W. Bush in the presidential election, a poll released on Friday said.
The governor garnered 72 percent of the Muslim vote compared to Vice President Al Gore's eight per cent, in what the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) billed as a victory for the campaign to deliver a bloc vote for the Republican presidential candidate.
The Lebanese-American consumer activist and long-shot Green Party candidate, Ralph Nader, polled 19 per cent of the Muslim vote, according to exit polls taken by CAIR.
"Muslim voters clearly followed the lead of Islamic political groups in voting for George W. Bush. This signals that a Muslim voting bloc must be taken into consideration in future elections," said CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad.
The Muslim community endorsed Bush last month, citing his outreach to their community and his pledge to end the use of so-called secret evidence in immigration deportation hearings.
A full 85 per cent of the voters surveyed said the endorsement by the American Muslim Political Coordinating Council Political Action Committee (AMPCC-PAC) was a factor in their decision.-AFP
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