(MintPress) – With each religious group comes a voting demographic candidates on both sides of the aisle attempt to figure out — and sway to their side. The Catholic vote, the Evangelical vote, the Jewish vote — they’re all discussed as key denominations needed for a victory to the White House. Yet rarely does U.S. media focus on the Muslim vote or the issues those of the faith consider to be of most importance.

In terms of strategy, it seems candidates would benefit from paying attention. A recent poll shows that 91 percent of Muslims vote — that includes not only those with Middle Eastern backgrounds, but also those with Asian roots and those who have converted to the religion. That’s a number greater than those seen in Christian and Jewish populations.

With so many dedicated to using their voice in this election, leaders within the community are reinforcing how important voting is — not only for the next four years, but for the future.

“Voting is the civic duty of every eligible United States citizen and is an exercise of our constitutional rights,” CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said in a press release. “Islamophobes wish to marginalize Muslims and deprive our community of its voice. Voting is a clear message that we will not be pushed aside.”

Rather than being looked at as a hopeful voting block, Muslims in America have recently been the subject of skepticism and criticism — viewed more as an outside group than part of the voting electorate. Recently, Minnesota Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann went so far as to point fingers at Muslims who hold government positions, including Huma Abedin, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s aide.

What Bachmann might not have realized is that her position alienated Muslim voters, not only within her district, but around the country who look to the congresswomen as somewhat of a representative of the conservative movement in America. This, on top of racial profiling and anti-Muslim sentiment within the tea party movement, has impacted the vote.

And with a tight election hours away, the Muslim vote could make a difference.

“The Muslim vote could be decisive in several battleground states,” Naeem Baig, chairman of the American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and Elections (AMT), told Inter Press Service.

How are Muslims going to vote?

When it comes to election issues, Muslims aren’t that different from others of faith — or anyone — throughout the nation. Like anyone else, the top five list of issues, according to a recent survey, includes the economy, education, health care policy, the future of entitlement programs and civil rights.

In terms of issues like abortion and gay marriage, they tend to be more conservative. The survey also found that 90 percent of respondents considered international relations and terrorism as top 10 priority issues.

And when it comes to the side of the political aisle they tend to lean toward, it’s split. The poll showed that 55 percent of Muslims considered themselves political moderate — 16 percent declared themselves conservative, while 26 percent said they were liberal. According to those statistics, a majority of Muslim voters are independent — they represent the voting bloc candidates have been focusing on to win the election.

And while they are split, 49 percent of those within the religion see the Democratic Party taking a more favorable approach toward those who hold the faith. Only 12 percent saw the Republican Party as friendly. Fifty-one percent of those surveyed went so far as to say the Republican Party was unfriendly.

Based on those statistics, it’s likely Obama will take the Muslim vote this year. And if things don’t change, the Democratic Party could secure that growing vote into the future.

What do the numbers look like?

The Pew Center found there to be roughly 7 million Muslims within the United States. However, a majority of those counted are underage. The number of eligible Muslim voters, according to Pew, was around 1.6 million.

That might not sound like a lot, but the number is growing. Pew estimates showed that, if current growth remains, the number of voting Muslims in the U.S. could grow to reach 2.2 million by 2030. And just like any demographic that seems to be expanding, rather than shrinking, it pays for candidates to pay attention.

And while those numbers are small, Americans remember what happened in 2000, when Democrat Al Gore won the popular vote by more than 500,000 votes, yet still lost the election. On a smaller scale, states with greater Muslim populations could tip electoral college votes.

Michigan, for example, has the highest concentration of U.S. Muslims — and they’re currently a swing state. While the state was thought to have gone to Obama, new polls show his lead was declining.

Whether Michigan goes blue or red, pundits will take a look at the impact Muslim voters had on the results — and the two major parties would be wise to listen.

Why aren’t candidates touting Muslim vote?

Calling someone Muslim within the U.S. political circuit has sadly become somewhat of an insult. Conspiracy theorists have campaigned against President Barack Obama based on the notion that he is allegedly a Muslim. This, despite the fact that he declares himself a Christian. Yet if he were a Muslim, it seems many in the U.S., especially on the right, would have a hard time with that.

Having said that, it’s somewhat of a politically savvy move to keep campaign stops to the mosque out of the way, especially for Obama. Yet at what point will candidates consider support from the Muslim voting sector something worth attracting, rather than ignoring? In doing so, they would not only attract voters, but stand up against discrimination in the U.S.

Former President George W. Bush had this figured out in 2000, before it was controversial to consider Muslims constituents. A 2004 piece in the Christian Science Monitor, written by Dante Chinni, recognized that Bush blew Gore out of the water when it came to support from the Muslim community.

“Polls in 2000 showed Muslims favored Bush over Mr. Gore by a wide margin — some showed support in the 90 percent range – and some groups argued that some 60,000 Muslim votes put Bush over the top in Florida,” Chinni wrote.

They honeymoon didn’t last long, though. After the attacks on Sept. 11, Muslim-Americans felt the brunt of racial profiling and discrimination. And candidates began to distance themselves from politically active — or any — Muslim groups.

And the situation hasn’t gotten much smoother since that point. The Republican Party has not won those voters back in 12 years. With candidates like Michele Bachmann endorsing Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential candidate, there’s not much hope that will shift, at least to the degree seen in 2000.

What remains to be seen is whether Muslim voters organize themselves as a politically active group. Christian denominations have done this well, becoming an influential voting group. But with racial profiling and negative sentiment toward Muslims in America, many have refrained from such action. Yet if they become a crucial voting demographic in this year’s election, they could gain the confidence to do just that.