Republicans seek votes among the Amish, who rarely cast them, in swing-state Pennsylvania
Source: AP
Updated 8:04 AM EDT, October 28, 2024
LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) — On a recent weekday afternoon, an Amish man in a horse-drawn buggy navigated through a busy intersection of auto traffic in Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County, past a billboard proclaiming: “Pray for God’s Mercy for Our Nation.”
The billboard featured a large image of a wide-brimmed straw hat often worn by the Amish. If there was any further doubt as to its target audience, the smaller print listed the sponsor as “Fer Die Amische” — referring to the Amish in their Pennsylvania German dialect.
Researchers say most of the Amish don’t register to vote, reflective of the Christian movement’s historic separatism from mainstream society, just as they’ve maintained their dialect and horse-and-buggy transportation. But a small minority have voted, and the Amish are most numerous in the all-important swing state of Pennsylvania. So they’re being targeted this year in the latest of decades of efforts to register more of them to vote.
Republicans are seeking their votes through billboards, ads, door-to-door canvassing and community meetings. Republican campaigners see the Amish as receptive to GOP talking points — smaller government, less regulation, religious freedom.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/pennsylvania-amish-voters-church-state-election-republican-02879042c8ee425c345daa971ecd341e
A handful who did participate (most don't) in 2016 got fooled once. I doubt that many will get fooled again. They have seen what an abomination 45 has been.
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https://readingterminalmarket.org/merchant/dutch-eating-place/
They are US citizens, and some even get drivers' licenses. (A few of the younger males.) But I don't know how they get a standard birth certificate unless the hospitals provide them.
An old friend of mine lives in Lancaster County, and used to be a driver for the Amish. The Amish businessmen own vehicles for transporting their workers to jobsites, but many of the older Amish never learned to drive. It's considered against their religion. The younger men aren't so conservative, many have smartphones and surf the internet on them, learn to drive, etc.
He sent it in to the county and a birth certificate was then issued to my grandparents. I suspect this will work for the Amish or other people who have home births. Just need a recognized person to do the paperwork.
Here in NC we can get a voter ID card, which may or may not have a photo. I know when I voted the other week, the poll worker did a thorough check to make sure my mother and I matched our ID pictures. I'd never had that happen before, it was almost like I was being checked to make sure I was old enough to drink. 
