All eyes are on Pennsylvania in the 2024 presidential election, considered the most critical state in determining the outcome.
Pennsylvania is currently a toss-up.
Conservative activist Scott Presler, the founder of Early Vote Action, has dedicated much of his time and resources to flipping Pennsylvania for Trump this election.
“Trump lost the state in 2020 by just 80,660 votes, a margin of 1%. To win this November, Presler needed to find a demographic group that size or bigger that he could swing toward Trump,” Deseret News noted.
There’s one group Presler has concentrated his efforts: the Amish.
The Amish usually don’t vote.
However, they could be the deciding factor in 2024.
“Pennsylvania News I’m hearing that there has been a steady line of 40 people at the Lancaster County Board of Elections since 8 a.m. this morning. @ryansexton84 also told me, ‘I witnessed at least 3 Amish voting in-person today.’ Something is happening,” Presler said Monday.
Pennsylvania News
I’m hearing that there has been a steady line of 40 people at the Lancaster County Board of Elections since 8 a.m. this morning. @ryansexton84 also told me, “I witnessed at least 3 Amish voting in-person today.”
Something is happening.
— ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) October 21, 2024
“We are courting the Amish in Lancaster County, PA. The Amish could literally save America,” Presler said last month.
We are courting the Amish in Lancaster County, PA.
The Amish could literally save America. pic.twitter.com/mcnKjVxh8s
— ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) September 20, 2024
From Deseret News:
On paper, the Amish, in the aggregate, seem like quintessential conservative voters. They value religious liberty and big, strong families. They eschew the influence of government in their lives. They run their own schools and so they appreciate educational freedom. It is no surprise that the three most common Republican last names in the U.S., according to a recent Washington Post analysis, are affiliated with the Amish — and concentrated in Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County. If any group were to deliver solid Republican votes, it is the Amish.
The problem? Most Amish don’t vote. There is no hard-and-fast rule against it: instruction varies from community to community. To the Amish, the highest priority is building a heavenly kingdom. They attempt to live separate from the world, and that includes worldly governments. No devout Amish person will hold public office. Most devout Amish people, then, tend toward avoiding supporting or opposing those who do.
That hasn’t stopped attempts to court the Amish vote. George W. Bush toured eastern Pennsylvania’s Amish country in 2004 and made a concerted pitch for their vote — which he got, a record threshold of turnout, about 13%. In both 2016 and 2020, a group called Amish PAC poured $150,000 into signage and mailers, Lancaster Online reported. The local Republican Party apparatus in Lancaster County made a concerted push to lead door-to-door canvassing efforts toward the Amish in 2020, with modest results: nearly 3,000 Amish people voted, per Dr. Steven Nolt, director and senior scholar at the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College.
But Presler knows 3,000 won’t win Pennsylvania for Trump: his vision is getting far more. That’s why he moved to Pennsylvania earlier this year.
It appears Presler’s efforts are paying off.
@ScottPresler doing a hell of a job in Pennsylvania registering the Amish to vote.
He has been doing this for the last year. pic.twitter.com/qDKPXarSir
— JOSH DUNLAP (@JDunlap1974) September 24, 2024
WATCH:
Amish woman from Pennsylvania says that there are a lot more Amish voting in this presidential election than before.
Amish can help to win PA for Trump! pic.twitter.com/h0zF44FOoz
— I Meme Therefore I Am (@ImMeme0) October 21, 2024
According to The Telegraph, persecution from state authorities on the sale of raw milk has also played a factor in the Amish turning out this election.
“The Pennsylvania persecution of #Amish farmers will backfire on election day,” Robert Barnes noted.
The Pennsylvania persecution of #Amish farmers will backfire on election day. https://t.co/QrXGc5WUvB
— Robert Barnes (@barnes_law) October 15, 2024
The Telegraph reports:
For decades, the Amish have largely declined to vote – one farmer told me they prefer “to put our faith in God” – but this time around may just be different. Angered, if the Amish could ever get angry, by a raid by state authorities on a local farmer selling raw milk, the community appears to be stirring.
In a race as tight as Pennsylvania – where Joe Biden won by 80,000 votes last time – it is not inconceivable that thousands of Amish votes could turn Pennsylvania red.
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‘Pennsylvania State Troopers raided Amos Miller’s Lancaster County organic farm, spent several hours inside the building, and left with coolers containing his property,’ 100 Percent Fed Up previously reported.
State Troopers And Government Officials Raid Amish Organic Farm, Seize Coolers Filled With Property
From 100 Percent Fed Up:
According to The Lancaster Patriot, the search was conducted by “employees of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, with Pennsylvania State Police offering assistance as needed.”
The outlet attempted to enter the facility during the search, but government officials refused to let them inside.
“We’re conducting a search warrant inside this building right now,” a Pennsylvania State Trooper told a reporter at the scene.
The Lancaster Patriot’s Chris Hume reported from Miller’s organic farm.
WATCH:
BREAKING: State Troopers conducting search on Amos Miller’s farm in Lancaster County, PA. pic.twitter.com/4ibZPxfI0U
— The Lancaster Patriot (@TheLanPatriot) January 4, 2024
“Looks like Amos Miller’s farm is being raided. With all of the problems in society today, this is what the government wants to focus on? A man growing food for informed customers, without participating in the industrial meat/milk complex? It’s shameful that it’s come to this,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) commented.
Looks like Amos Miller’s farm is being raided.
With all of the problems in society today, this is what the government wants to focus on?
A man growing food for informed customers, without participating in the industrial meat/milk complex?
It’s shameful that it’s come to this. https://t.co/pWwjp6cgPh
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) January 4, 2024
“A search warrant was issued on Jan. 3, 2024, by Magisterial District Judge B. Denise Commins and included an affidavit of probable cause completed by Sheri Morris, Acting Bureau Director of Food Safety with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture,” The Lancaster Patriot writes.
The outlet shared footage of the raid being executed.
WATCH:
BREAKING: Footage of search warrant being executed on Amos Miller’s organic farm operations in Lancaster County, PA. (For more info on the ongoing saga, visit: https://t.co/uB5pbpnlhS) pic.twitter.com/U64ft05x0F
— The Lancaster Patriot (@TheLanPatriot) January 4, 2024
Footage of the search being conducted inside Amos Miller’s organic farm store in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. pic.twitter.com/iKUDbo9CcR
— The Lancaster Patriot (@TheLanPatriot) January 4, 2024
Exclusive footage of state agents leaving Amos Miller’s organic farm store, carrying off some of his products. pic.twitter.com/yVAHSmr1WH
— The Lancaster Patriot (@TheLanPatriot) January 4, 2024
"A Lancaster County judge ruled Amish farmer Amos Miller can sell his raw milk to out-of-state customers, denying a request by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture to prevent him from selling his product outside of the state," 100 Percent Fed Up noted.
"Judge rules against the state & in favor of #AmosMiller right to sell outside Pennsylvania," Barnes said.
Judge rules against the state & in favor of #AmosMiller right to sell outside Pennsylvania.
— Robert Barnes (@barnes_law) April 13, 2024
From 100 Percent Fed Up:
“Judge Thomas Sponaugle wrote in an order that the Pennsylvania law which regulated milk sales is for the Commonwealth and that does not apply to Miller selling out-of-state,” WHTM wrote.
“While Plaintiff may be correct that the Pennsylvania General Assembly meant to prevent any sales of raw milk without a permit to both in Commonwealth and out of Commonwealth buyers, Pennsylvania law regulating milk sales references within the Commonwealth… at the same time other applicable regulations do not indicate ‘within the Commonwealth’,” Sponaugle wrote, according to the outlet.
In January, Pennsylvania State Troopers raided Miller’s Lancaster County organic farm.
"Who would have thought the Amish would ever vote for ANYONE? I heard they are voting for Donald Trump (not Kamala Harris) in the 2024 election. So I went to their world headquarters to find out why. And what an insight!" Nick Johnson wrote.
WATCH:
This is a Guest Post from our friends over at 100 Percent Fed Up.
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