LANCASTER (AP) – The Amish are numerous in the all-important swing state of PA, and yet only a small minority of them vote in elections. They’re being sought this year in the latest effort to register more of them to vote. Researchers say most of the Amish don’t register 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 smaller government, less regulation, and religious freedom. Congressman Lloyd Smucker says, “They just want government to stay not only out of their businesses, but out of their religion.” Smucker’s district includes Lancaster County, at the heart of the nation’s largest Amish population. Smucker, whose own family background is Amish, predicted a dramatic increase in the Amish vote, “basing that on the enthusiasm we see.” But while such efforts could yield an increase, don’t expect the Amish vote to dramatically swing the Keystone State’s bottom line, said Steven Nolt, Director of the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Lancaster County’s Elizabethtown College. Nolt said that Amish in a handful of settlements in Lancaster and elsewhere have voted, typically less than 10% of their population.
