Super Tuesday: Amish and Voting

Hillary Clinton

By Kevin Williams

Many Americans will be heading to the polls today to vote.  I think it is something like 15 states have primaries today. I live in Ohio so we don't vote until March 15.  But if you are in Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Minnesota, Colorado and a host of others, today is voting day.  Chances are, though, you won't see any Amish at the polls.

Since so many Amish are clustered in Ohio and Pennsylvania and those are both considered "swing states," the Amish are a tempting to bloc to go after and that'll only become more so as their population continues increasing.  It's not that the Amish are "allowed" to vote, they just rare do. The process is fraught with much peril for them.

Most Amish are strict pro-life in their views so if they did vote, they’d probably vote Republican.  On the other hand, the Amish are also generally strict pacifists.  And each of the last 5 Republican Presidents have been involved in some form of military intervention somewhere and that doesn’t square well with a pacifist position.  Plus, there’s the issue of defense budgets, national insurance programs, and social safety nets.  None of these square well with Amish beliefs. There is no one political party that fits their needs.    Some Amish were very pro George W. Bush and he was successful and turning out some Amish voters who were attracted to his evangelical bent.  But I am aware of some Amish in northern Indiana who were very pro-Obama in 2008.  Northern Indiana was then mired in a terrible recession and many believed Obama’s policies could bring relief to the battered RV industry.

So, without further delay, let's do our first Amish365 Presidential Poll.  This is unscientific and just for fun and the ballot is secret, I or no one else, can see who casts what votes.[socialpoll id="2337910"]