The scene at the Franklin County Board of Elections early voting location in Columbus has a bit of a United Nations feel. Yesterday 4,317 voters cast their ballots there, with many colorful burkas, saris, hijabs and other ethnic dress in evidence among those coming and going, most clutching Democratic “sample ballots.”
Looking at the surnames of voters in the Franklin County data files so far, Mohamed ranks 7th, after Smith, Johnson, Williams, Jones, Brown and Davis. Ali comes in 9th.
The map below shows the early voter concentrations of the top five surnames likely to be Muslim—Mohamed, Ali, Ahmed, Abdi, Hassan and Farah.
The spot in the southwest of the county is interesting:
I had talked to a canvasser over the weekend who walked a turf in that area and he remarked on how diverse it was—not only African but also Asian, Latino and others.
More local people are aware of the African immigrant and Muslim population in the north of Columbus, an area also with many Asians and Latinos. There’s a close correspondence between those areas and the concentrations of early voting activity:
I registered many Muslims this summer and fall at farmers markets, colleges, libraries and the like. One man, first name Abdul from Sierra Leone told me, “I’m a Muslim, so I pray five times a day. I pray that Hillary Clinton will win. Oh yeah, I wake up in the middle of the night and pray that she wins, so make that six times a day.”
A few more photos from the Obama rally yesterday: