Republicans seek votes among the Amish, who rarely cast them, in swing-state Pennsylvania
The Amish are numerous in the all-important swing state of Pennsylvania, and yet only a small minority of them vote in elections
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.
