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A national political action committee is working to engage and educate Muslim American voters during the 2008 presidential election season. Starting in September, MAPAC, the Muslim American Political Action Committee, will launch a five-state campaign to register and educate Muslim American voters in Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia, which MAPAC predicts will be the most hotly contested states during the 2008 election. According to MAPAC’s voter database, there are 700,000 Muslim American voters in these five states alone.
MAPAC, founded in 2004, was one of the first political action committees to endorse presidential candidate John Kerry. During that election MAPAC worked to engage Muslim American voters, 75% of whom supported Kerry.
In addition to its work registering and educating Muslim American voters, the committee will reach out to both the Obama and McCain campaigns on various issues of importance to the Muslim community. MAPAC will offer non-partisan voter education materials as well as voter registration drives in schools, public libraries and mosques.
"A lot of people seem to be addressing the election from the standpoint of emotion and sentimentality," said Mukit Hossain, President of MAPAC. "We strongly believe a decision should be made not by emotion and sentimentality but by information."
The committee will distribute information that specifically addresses the presidential candidates' positions on key issues of great importance to Muslim American voters, especially in the areas of foreign and domestic policy. Hossain expressed his hope that MAPAC will help Muslim Americans achieve "ownership in the society in which we live." Though Muslim Americans have for many years "actively participated in charitable and social civic engagement and been a productive and responsible part of society," Hossain said, Muslim Americans can continue to expand their political engagement. “The important thing to us is not whether a candidate is black or white of the religious affiliation but whether the candidate is good for the Muslim American community and for America."
Posted on August 19, 2008
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