With just days to go until the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election, Americans are gearing up to have their say in who will be the next leader of the country. Citizens of all belief systems, races, and genders will be taking to the polls to make their voices heard. While every vote matters, one group that remains particularly active in U.S. politics is the Indian American population or people who identify as sharing heritage from the Indian subcontinent.

This is partially due to the fact that current Vice President and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris is of Indian heritage. According to a recent report from NCTV, Indian Americans remain the most politically active Asian group in the country, as well as the second largest immigrant group in the country, with an estimated population of 5.2 million people, about 2 million of which are eligible to vote in the upcoming election.

The report went on to reveal that the topics that are currently concerning Indian American voters differ from the more common issues addressed by the presidential candidates, like illegal immigration and border security. Instead, many Indian Americans concern themselves with legal immigration, from backlogs in green cards to work visa restrictions.

Surveys also found that the topics that most concerned Indian Americans included inflation, cost of living, and reproductive rights. At present, about 47% lean Democratic due to slightly more Indian Americans identifying as either Republican or Independent. Indian Americans were split nearly 50/50, and NCTV found that almost 7 in 10 were likely to vote for Kamala Harris. When asked, voters expressed belief that Harris would display more empathy towards the issue of legal immigration.

At the same time, other voters, especially those working in large sectors or large companies, believed Republican candidate Donald Trump would be the better choice. Doctors and journalists of Indian American origin are coming to the polls with the belief that their vote will matter more than ever in this election, especially in the “swing states,” which are currently seeing a rise in the Indian American population.

Currently, California is home to the largest population of Indian Americans, accounting for 20% of the country’s total population, with Illinois and New Jersey following. NCTV spoke to some local leaders of Indian origin to hear their perspectives on the importance of Indian representation in politics and in American leadership roles.

“I think this is a good time for our community to show our power. I feel we are brilliant. We just need to be engaged a little bit more, and then we will see policies which will affect us,” observed Neena Singh, mayor of Montgomery Township, New Jersey.

Ravi Bhalla, mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey, echoed similar sentiments.

“I see a very exponential increase in the number of South Asians who are in public-facing positions, whether it’s an elected office or a prosecuting attorney… We are slowly integrating into the public sector… so with that, you’ll see us getting more of a seat at the table…on issues that we care about,” said Ravi Bhalla, mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey,” Bhalla told NCTV.