More than 70 per cent of registered Muslims voters intend to vote for Hillary Clinton in the upcoming US presidential election, a new survey has found.
Research conducted nationwide by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) found that while 86 per cent of registered Muslim voters say they will go to the polls on November 8, just four per cent said they would vote for Republican candidate Donald Trump
A small number – three per cent – said they would vote for Green Party candidate Jill Stein, while two per cent said they would support Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson.
In total, 72 per cent intend to vote for Clinton.
The majority of respondents (62 per cent) to the survey said that the Republican Party was unfriendly towards Muslims, while just two per cent said the same about the Democrat Party.
Trump has called for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States", which has led Democrats to call him a bigot. His running mate, vice-presidential candidate Mike Pence, distanced Trump from the policy last week, however.
The CAIR survey found that 91 per cent of respondents believe the temporary ban on Muslim immigrants to America "is the wrong decision".
The overwhelming majority said Islamophobia and anti-Muslim sentiment had increased in the US over the past year. Just less than a third (30 per cent) said they had personally experienced discrimination or profiling in the same timeframe.
"This survey shows that American Muslims are both worried and hopeful," said CAIR's national executive director Nihad Awad.
"They are worried that Islamophobia is becoming violent and acceptable with no push back by our nation's leaders, and hopeful that their high turnout – with more than one million votes – will swing the election and make their voices heard."
CAIR's government affairs director Robert McCaw said presidential candidates "still have time to appeal to American Muslim voters by addressing issues such as the erosion of civil rights and growing Islamophobia".
