US Elections: Survey reveals 70% Indian-Americans prefer Joe Biden over Donald Trump

The 2020 Indian American Attitude Survey (IAAS) revealed that over 70 per cent of registered Indian-American voters plan to vote for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden in the upcoming US elections, while only 22 per cent will vote for Donald Trump. The survey recorded online responses from 936 Indian-Americans in the first 20 days of September. The report said that 56 per cent of the members of the community strongly identify with the Democratic Party whereas only 15 per cent saw themselves as Republican. 

IAAS report stated, "In line with past studies... members of the community continue to strongly identify with the Democratic Party."

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US Elections: Survey says most Indian-Americans to support Joe Biden

The IAAS report added that while contradicting the emerging narrative, India-Americans choose to remain committed to the Democratic Party and thus intend to support Biden. Most India-Americans believe that the Democrats will be able to manage US-India ties better. Also, the vice-presidential candidate for the US elections, Kamala Harris who is the first biracial woman (half Indian-half black) to be given a ticket for vice-president in the US has already turned Indian-American community in favour of the democrats, IAAS reports added. 

"There is little evidence of a significant evolution in partisan allegiances since 2016. The vast majority (91 per cent) of Indian-Americans who voted for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016 plan to support Biden in 2020," the authors said.

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Earlier in August, Harris had made headlines across India after she spoke about her mother (Shyamala Gopalan) and told that she likes idli and masala dosa. Despite the fact that the Indian-American community represents even less than 1 per cent US voters, it is the second-largest immigrant group in the US due to which it is in the spotlight amid US elections. After widely covered and lavish visits exchanged between PM Modi and Trump, Republicans had expected increased support from the community. The authors of the survey suggest that there is very little evidence for all the popular narratives which suggest that Indian-Americans would stand by Republicans. 

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In the survey, the Indian voters said that the economy and healthcare in the US are their top two concerns and US-India ties were at the bottom of the list. The data reveals that Indian-American men and women both plan to vote for Biden. Over 69 per cent of women and 68 per cent of prefer Biden over Trump. On the other hand, only 19 per cent of women and 24 per cent of men intend to vote for Trump. 

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The 2020 Indian American Attitude Survey was a collaboration between Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Johns Hopkins-SAIS and the University of Pennsylvania. The US elections are scheduled November 3. According to CNBC reports, early voting for the election has already begun and over 10.6 million Americans have already cast their votes. Democrats are holding a strong early lead, it added. 

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