Caribbean Voters Among Immigrants Who Boosted VoterTurn Out In NYC

Here is another immigrant community that has exercised their right to vote and joined in a historic election. DP

By CaribWorldNews staff

NEW YORK, NY: Caribbean voters across New York City were among immigrants in the Big Apple who turned out in huge numbers on Election Day, November 4th, the New Americans Exit Poll shows.

The poll of immigrant voters, conducted by the New York Immigrant Coalition and several political researchers, found that the turnout in Afro-Caribbean neighborhoods, such as BedfordStuyvesant and Canarsie, was as high as in neighborhoods made up primarily of native-born blacks. Most voted overwhelmingly for Barack Obama, according to the survey. Researchers said he gained 82.3 percent of foreign born voters compared to 83.7 percent of native-born votes.

Election results show that Obama won 545,785 votes in Brooklyn, 300,327 votes in the Bronx and 436,398 in Brooklyn. In zip codes where Caribbean nationals live, including not just in Brooklyn but in Southeast Queens and around the North East Bronx, he won some 62 percent of the votes.

Over all, researchers found that voter turnout in New York City on Tuesday increased by about 3 percent over 2004 with immigrant New Yorkers making up more than 40 percent of first-time New York City voters in the election. Researchers interviewed 4,732 New York voters, of which 1,218 were foreign-born in neighborhoods across New York City.

The immigrants’ top concerns were jobs and the economy, same as their native-born counterparts.

The voting statistics in New York City come as several Caribbean leaders have called for meetings with the new administration and even outlined their agenda. But political pundits in the Caribbean Diaspora say the leaders must bear in mind that it is the Diaspora voting power that will determine whether their requests are given priorities going forth in the Obama administration.