Vote returns show that Amish voters did not win Pennsylvania for President-elect Donald Trump, despite the right activists’ extensive claims on social media.
According to preliminary analysis of vote returns in Lancaster County precincts with significant Amish populations, there appears to have been a slight rise in the number of Amish voters this year, but experts indicated they do not anticipate significant changes in Amish turnout.
Republicans have long viewed the sizable Amish population in Lancaster County and throughout the state as an untapped electoral bloc. Many of them dress simply, use technology sparingly, and live in their own isolated, self-sufficient communities.
Many Amish people in Pennsylvania do not cast ballots because they believe it goes against their religious convictions to participate in earthly government in order to further God’s kingdom.
However, that has been gradually changing in recent years. The biggest increase was four years ago, when the Amish turnout of the about 20,000 Amish persons in Lancaster County who are of voting age more than doubled from 7% in 2016 to 17% in 2020, or roughly 3,400 votes.
The precise number of Amish voters won’t be known until the final voter rolls are released, at which point scholars will begin the laborious task of cross-referencing voter names, addresses, and birthdays with those found in Amish church directories. Because Amish authorities are against it, the Amish experts, who are housed in the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College, do not scan or digitize the directories.
According to Steven Nolt, an Amish specialist who oversees the Young Center, “I do not expect to find a large jump in Amish voters.”Between 2016 and 2020, the total data indicated a different picture. This time, as we go ahead to 2020 and 2024, that isn’t the case.
The push for more Amish voters
This year’s election was predicted to be as close as the previous two presidential cycles, and Republicans hoped to increase the number of Amish votes in Pennsylvania. Donald Trump, the president-elect, increased his vote share throughout Pennsylvania, including in Democratic strongholds like Philadelphia, and won the state by more than 121,000 votes.
The richest man in the world, Elon Musk, said that America PAC, the political action group he established to support Trump, provided Amish people, who frequently do not drive cars but are permitted to ride as passengers, with transportation to the polls.
The Amish population was specifically targeted by billboards and mailers to vote for Trump. In Lancaster and Mifflin Counties, a grassroots organization conducted weekly voter registration efforts at Amish markets.
Despite being politically aware and engaged, Philip Habegger, one of 11 children raised Amish in Kentucky before leaving his community at the age of 27, claimed his family would never have thought to cast a ballot. Habegger, a Lancaster resident who is currently 31 years old, volunteered for the Trump campaign.
The Trump campaign believed it could persuade more Amish people to vote in Pennsylvania this election, but they never anticipated it would double turnout as some commentators suggested. According to Habegger, they have many of the same views as Republicans, including a concentration on economic opportunity and religious freedom. In other words, they want to keep their mouths shut.
Habegger asserted that the Amish are significantly more efficient than the government in these areas.
According to Scott Presler, a conservative activist who leads the grassroots organization Early Vote Action, which moved to Pennsylvania to turn the state back to red and held focused weekly voter registration drives, his group is here to stay and is getting ready to hire 19 full-time employees next week.
Additionally, by appointing a state director who will be especially tasked with wooing the votes of Amish and Old Order Mennonite communities, he is stepping up their efforts to engage Amish voters.
We’re not leaving. Regarding his organization’s endeavor to encourage more Amish people to cast ballots in Pennsylvania, Presler stated, “This is a real concerted effort, not just every presidential year.”
It’s part of his group’s broader plan to gradually increase the number of voters in each Pennsylvanian county: Get 500–1,000 new people to vote for Trump, and he will win the state, which is exactly what he did. Presler pointed out that Trump received more votes this year than in 2020 in every county with a sizable Amish community, although he admitted that not all of these gains were due to Amish voters.
With the largest concentration in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania is home to more than 90,000 Amish and Old Order Mennonite people, making it the state with the largest population in the nation.
Approximately 400,000 Amish people reside in the United States, primarily in the Midwest and Pennsylvania. Families typically have six to nine children, and the population is still growing quickly—nearly doubling every 20 years—which will result in even more votes, Presler continued.
Amish and Old Order Mennonite communities were involved and worried about the election’s outcome, according to state representative Dave Zimmerman, a Republican from Lancaster who represents a district includes these communities.
“The freedom to be Amish will be the biggest concern for the Amish,” Zimmerman continued. They will be concerned about any problem that is somewhat interfering with their way of life, such as intrusive laws or limitations on their freedom of religion.
According to Zimmerman, they primarily want to be left alone to raise families, send their children to school, work on the farm, or engage in their construction business.
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