DEARBORN/DEARBORN HEIGHTS — The presence of Arab Americans at voting precincts in Dearborn and Dearborn Heights on election day was overwhelming, and spoke volumes about the power and influence of the Arab vote, particularly in local races where the fate of many candidates often rests in the hands of Arab Americans. 

According to Arab American Political Action Committee member Tarek Beydoun voter turnout among Arab Americans in this election has increased drastically as opposed to the 2008 presidential election in large part because of Sam Salamey’s election campaign that’s being credited for getting more Arab Americans out to the polls. 

Salamey was successful in his bid for a seat as judge in Dearborn’s 19th District Court, and became the first Arab American to hold the position, making history in a city that’s estimated to be more than 40 percent Arab American. Salamey managed to unseat incumbent Richard Wgonik by a large margin of votes. 

Beydoun says there are 19,000 registered Arab American voters in Dearborn, and robo calls were made reaching thousands of people in the city. Some of the calls encouraged residents to vote for Sam Salamey while others specifically aimed to get voters to follow the AAPAC slate.

By 6 p.m. the turnout for McDonald Elementary School was 1030; Woodworth Middle School, 927; William Ford Elementary School, 869; Maples Elementary School, 919 and Lowrey High School, 742.

Voter turnout increased during evening hours, which are generally the busiest.  

Many Arab Americans say the community has never been as politically active in a presidential election as they were Tuesday. 

“I’ve witnessed a lot of presidential elections in Dearborn, but none like this. Arab Americans are excited and rallying up like never before. There’s lots of new faces at the polls this year,” one voter said.

At the John Canfield Community Center in Dearborn Heights and William Ford Elementary School in Dearborn Arab Americans came out in large numbers to vote. Both schools housed precincts 11 and 12. 

Many Arab American voters were enthusiastic about members of their own communities being listed on ballots in both cities. Both Hamid Soueidan and Zaineb Hussein were candidates for the Crestwood Board of Education, but were not successful Tuesday. 

“We need Arab Americans to represent our community at all levels of government. We are a big community here in Dearborn Heights. I’m excited to see Arab Americans on the ballot,” Dearborn Heights resident Ray Haidar said. 

Hassan Darwish, another resident who voted at the Center said he also was excited about seeing Arab American names on the ballot.  “It’s so important to vote. It’s one of our rights and we’re very privileged and proud,” Darwish said.

Volunteers for Hussein’s campaign were stationed outside the Center, meanwhile volunteers from  AAPAC were also spotted at precincts in Dearborn and Dearborn Heights. 

According to one Yemeni American Political Action Committee member, the group had 25 volunteers passing out its slate at Dearborn precincts. Volunteers from the Arab Student Union were also very active around precincts in both cities.

“I’m doing this for the community. I want to be active in the election,” said Haroon Alshohatee, a student at Edsel Ford High School who volunteered to work the polls at William Ford from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

AAPAC volunteers were stationed at The Arab American News office on election day keeping track of precinct numbers. On Monday AAPAC volunteers met at the paper’s office to gear up for the election. 

Salamey visited Signature Cafe in Dearborn on Tuesday discussing the election with other members of the community and international news outlets such as Al Arabiya.

Over at McDonald Elementary School, located on the east side of Dearborn, 600 voters had already turned out by 2 p.m. Zainab Bazzoun, Deena Atoui and Nesreen Elmoussaoui, three volunteers from the Arab Student Union of Fordson, were campaigning on behalf of  AAPAC.

“We are doing this today to not only make sure people come out and vote, but also to make sure they vote for the right people. I think as Arabs we make up a large amount of the population, but we don’t have any pull when it comes to politics. People complain all the time that we have no say, but if you are not voting then you have no right to complain,” stated Bazzoun. 

“So far we have seen a large amount of people come out just to vote for Sam Salamey. I have only seen one person so far who said he was a Republican, but everyone else came here to vote for Obama,” she added.

Jacklin Zeidan, who was also volunteering at McDonald’s precinct during the primary election and stationed there Tuesday said there was a clear indication that Arab residents in the city of Dearborn were voting Democrat during this election.

“There is a very strong Arab turnout. It’s very Democratic and very pro-Obama. A lot of people who were coming out here were also very interested in voting yes on proposal two, and of course many supporters for Sam Salamey have also turned out. It’s been a very pleasant and very smooth day,” Zeidan stated.

The impact of the Arab vote was clearly visible at most of Dearborn’s precincts. Having a strong prominence at the south-end precincts was the (YAPAC), which along with AAPAC, had volunteers outside of the polling locations to assist residents who needed guidance or had questions.

“We are just trying to influence the Yemeni community here in the south end and in Dearborn to make the right choices. YAPAC interviewed each candidate and they believe these are the best choices that will benefit the community. The response so far has been pretty good. It has been packed since seven in the morning,” stated Rashid Alrayashi.

While both AAPAC and YAPAC gave their official endorsement to Sam Salamey, there was one Arab volunteer who was supporting Salamey’s opponent Richard Wygonik at Salina Elementary School. Wael Mahde, who was boldly holding a sign for the incumbent Judge in front of the Salina, said he supported Wygonik because he already has the experience to continue doing the job. Wygonik had paid a visit to the precinct at around 2 p.m.

Salamey meanwhile was also spotted at a few polling locations talking to voters. Volunteers from his campaign had been knocking on doors all day long to remind residents to place their votes before the polls closed at 8 p.m. 

Many Arab Americans turned out to cast their votes on the six statewide ballot proposals. Proposal 2 in particular appeared to be significant, with many residents leaning in both directions. Despite all six proposals being turned down statewide, AAPAC urged voters to vote yes on Proposal 2, giving it an extra push in Dearborn  where 52.3% of residents voted in favor of it. 

“I came out here today because I felt strongly about Proposal 2, considering I’m a part of a union and I understand the importance of organized labor and collective bargaining. But I do also understand the importance of not allowing changes to the states constitution and keeping interest groups out of it. I don’t disclose how I usually vote, but through my own research I was able to come up with my own conclusions,” stated Solan Darwish, a voter at the Salina precinct. 

Overall in the city, there are 61,336 registered voters in Dearborn, with 39,666 casting their votes in the 2012 election. That includes 9,201 absentee ballots.

For the judicial race, here’s the breakdown: 32,325 votes were cast. Salamey received 3,245 absentee votes while Wygonik got 4,520. On the mostly Arab American east side, Salamey got 7,284 votes while Wygonik received 1,902. On the west side, Salamey received 7,081 while Wygonik received 7,598 in a losing effort

In the Dearborn School Board race, Aimee Blackburn garnered the highest vote total. On the east side, she had 5,302 votes followed by fellow winner Mary Lane with 4,785; Mary Petlichkoff had 2,119 in a losing effort. Blackburn received 7,301 votes on the west end, Lane had 6,263 and Petlichkoff got 6,102. 

Absentee-wise, Blackburn got 4,165, Petlichkoff 3,910 and Lane 3,663. 

The average voter turnout in East Dearborn ended up at 48 percent with Lowery’s precinct the highest at 52 percent; Salina was the lowest at 42 percent. 

West Dearborn’s turnout was a bit higher at an average of 51 percent (not including absentees) with Lindbergh at 62 percent and First Presbyterian at 46 percent. About 2,500 voters are Arab Americans according to estimates. 

The Dearborn absentee turnout was about 65 percent.