Top Amish voter help project guides by Amish PAC? Ohio and Pennsylvania host the largest population of Amish in the United States. Both states have nearly 100,000 Amish residents each, and that number is skyrocketing. The average Amish family has 6-8 children. When Amish vote, they vote for individual rights, religious rights and less government regulation on their farms and businesses. The objective of Amish PAC’s Plain Voter Project is to drive up Amish voter registration and turnout. Find many more details at https://www.pinterest.com/amishpac/.
In Pennsylvania, during the 2016 elections, out of the 15,055 Amish people eligible to vote in the state, only 2,052 registered. And of those, only 1,016 participated in the voting process. The highest turnout of Amish voters by percentage was in 2004, when about 13% of registered Amish voters participated in the elections and voted for George W. Bush, as they are typically Republican by registration and conviction. The seeming apathy of the Amish people stems from personal preference, though the church leaders discourage their followers from getting too involved in politics.
Paula Page Eicher of Claysburg said she travelled from Bedford County to help get out the Amish vote and help inform the community of the issues that were at stake. She shuttled several people from weddings and their homes to polling locations Tuesday because she felt so strongly about the election’s impact on the direction of this country. “I had a desire in my heart to do something more than just cast a ballot,” Eicher said. Eicher said she spoke to Amish teenage girls about the need to vote and having their voices heard as women in coming elections. She also said she explained the role of the electoral college and why Pennsylvania was so important to securing the election for Trump.
The Amish PAC focused on advertising in areas of Ohio and Pennsylvania with large Amish and Mennonite populations. “I think we really got the word out and we really stirred up some buzz in Amish communities in Holmes County, Ohio, as well. We really had a great presence,” said Walters in a phone interview Friday. According to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, the Amish PAC spent $1,351 on advertising in the Holmes County Shopper and an additional $1,298 for The Budget. Both newspapers are geared toward the Amish and Mennonite communities in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
As the final vote tallies trickled in from Pennsylvania precincts, a man who worked to get the Amish community to the polls was still up watching returns in hopes his organization’s impact would push Donald Trump to the presidency. Ultimately, the Keystone State was not the final state to put Trump over the threshold, but Ben Walters, a co-founder of the Amish Political Action Committee, was happy. Though he hadn’t slept in 48 hours, Walters said, he planned to watch election returns until the nomination was secured or he dozed off — whichever came first.
He said the official report on how many Amish voters registered and then followed through with voting for Trump won’t be available until the spring, but he did say that at the close of voter registration Oct. 11, the GOP had registered 10,403 Amish voters compared to the Democrats, who registered 9,961 — a difference of just 442 people, said Walters. He said Pennsylvania is the state that put Trump over the 270 electoral college votes needed to win the election. Read additional info at Amish voting help advices.
The Amish believe in a simple lifestyle and try to be as self-sufficient as possible through subsistence farming and producing sellable products. To the Amish people, staying separate from the world includes not accepting aid from the government or using public grids. They hold traditional ideals that are family and community-centered and tend to avoid things that can cause division, strife, or classism among them. They prefer to hold on to their traditional institutions and practices, hence their preference for mostly conservative positions.