Which Plain Anabaptists vote?

[Ernie]

I'm aware that some Amish in Lancaster County vote. Approximately 6-7%
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/worl ... -dtmk3tspp

I'm aware of some Amish in Ohio who vote but have no guess as to what percentage. Anybody have any percentages for Holmes Co.?

Whoever could have predicted at the time of the Amish/Mennonite schism, that the followers of Amman would someday be at the forefront of Anabaptist voters.

Do Groffdale Conference or Weaverland Conference people vote at all?

Any percentages on any other constituency?

[Ken]

I'd be curious to see what you come up with.

I think it was George W. Bush who really made the first effort to attract Amish and CA votes in 2004, mainly in Ohio as it was the key swing state in that election. Before that I think the Amish at least were extremely a-political.

What are you seeing on the ground out there? Is the Trump Campaign or other local GOP candidates organizing outreach and get out the vote drives in Amish and CA communities in Ohio and PA?

[mike]

In my area, there are not really enough plain Anabaptists to get a sense of how many people in these groups vote. In my church there's nobody that I know of, and a Hope Mennonite Fellowship congregation, in which I assume there's no one that votes. There's a Charity-type church, which may have a few in spite of an official position against voting (last I heard). There is a sizable old order Mennonite community in a neighboring area, and I can't imagine there are many voters at all. Further away, there are a couple of Pilgrim Conference churches and an Eastern Mennonite congregation, and I assume they all disallow voting. I may be missing some, but my sense would be that the only plain Anabaptist denomination that has even a measurable percentage of people who vote is the Amish. This goes back a ways. Both of my Amish grandfathers voted, I'm told.

[mike]

I'd be curious to see what you come up with.

I think it was George W. Bush who really made the first effort to attract Amish and CA votes in 2004, mainly in Ohio as it was the key swing state in that election. Before that I think the Amish at least were extremely a-political.

What are you seeing on the ground out there? Is the Trump Campaign or other local GOP candidates organizing outreach and get out the vote drives in Amish and CA communities in Ohio and PA?

It's not any candidate's outreach necessarily, bu there's this PAC targeting the Amish called Amish PAC, which is just plain stupid in my opinion.

[Ken]

I'd be curious to see what you come up with.

I think it was George W. Bush who really made the first effort to attract Amish and CA votes in 2004, mainly in Ohio as it was the key swing state in that election. Before that I think the Amish at least were extremely a-political.

What are you seeing on the ground out there? Is the Trump Campaign or other local GOP candidates organizing outreach and get out the vote drives in Amish and CA communities in Ohio and PA?

It's not any candidate's outreach necessarily, bu there's this PAC targeting the Amish called Amish PAC, which is just plain stupid in my opinion.

Not stupid....grifters. At least that's my impression.

Whoever is doing it is using the Amish angle to try to raise $$$ from outside GOP donors from across the country. How much of the $$$ they raise actually gets spent on real grass roots organizing in Amish-land as opposed to paying themselves and their friends as "consultants" is anyone's guess. There are very little regulation of this sort of thing and the regulations that do exist are rarely enforced.

[ABC 123]

Wayne/Holmes has some real interest amongst the Amish and Mennonites to get out and vote. Someone, only identified as Anonymous Amishman from Wayne County, Ohio, sent out a mass mailing of voter registration forms and a letter explaining the urgency to vote this year. This is unprecedented.

[Neto]

Wayne/Holmes has some real interest amongst the Amish and Mennonites to get out and vote. Someone, only identified as Anonymous Amishman from Wayne County, Ohio, sent out a mass mailing of voter registration forms and a letter explaining the urgency to vote this year. This is unprecedented.

I didn't see it, but my wife saw a copy of this that came in the mail to her dad. She said that it didn't sound like an Amishman writing it, because of the level or type of English grammar & wording used. It could be a fraud - a non-Amish person attempting to get real Amish people involved.

[Ernie]

Whoever is doing it is using the Amish angle to try to raise $$$ from outside GOP donors from across the country. How much of the $$$ they raise actually gets spent on real grass roots organizing in Amish-land as opposed to paying themselves and their friends as "consultants" is anyone's guess. There are very little regulation of this sort of thing and the regulations that do exist are rarely enforced.

They put up a fair amount of billboards. https://www.post-gazette.com/news/polit ... 1906110071

[Ernie]

Wayne/Holmes has some real interest amongst the Amish and Mennonites to get out and vote. Someone, only identified as Anonymous Amishman from Wayne County, Ohio, sent out a mass mailing of voter registration forms and a letter explaining the urgency to vote this year. This is unprecedented.

I didn't see it, but my wife saw a copy of this that came in the mail to her dad. She said that it didn't sound like an Amishman writing it, because of the level or type of English grammar & wording used. It could be a fraud - a non-Amish person attempting to get real Amish people involved.

Here is a copy of the ad that was placed in the Lancaster Farming.

[Ernie]

Here is a letter to the editor of Lancaster Farming, written by a River Brethren bishop, in response to the Amish Pac ad in 2018. It was published ahead of the 2018 elections. (I work with the author of this article in the same department.)

The author, Mel Bricker reported...
"I received a number of direct phone calls from the public, including an Amish Bishop from Lancaster County who was very appreciative of the article. He wanted us to know that there were not as many [Amish] who voted in 2016 as there were in 2004."