{"id":468591,"date":"2026-09-19T02:22:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T02:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/468591\/"},"modified":"2026-09-19T02:22:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T02:22:11","slug":"san-diegos-muslim-community-takes-part-in-national-voter-registration-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/468591\/","title":{"rendered":"San Diego\u2019s Muslim community takes part in national voter registration day"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the 2026 midterm elections just over a month away, there are nationwide efforts<\/a> underway to register voters this week.<\/p>\n

That includes voter registration efforts within the Muslim community.<\/p>\n

Following a midday Friday sermon and prayer at the Islamic Center of San Diego, it was time for political engagement outside of the mosque.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s where 18-year-old Maria Hassane was one of many who registered to vote for the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen my parents voting, my sisters voting ever since a young age. And I always felt like it was important to have that voice,\u201d Hassane said. \u201cEven though it feels small, like \u2018oh my voice won’t make a change,\u2019 but since I have the opportunity to \u2013 you never know that one vote might make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Organizers<\/p>\n

Organizers prepare voter registration materials outside of the Islamic Center of San Diego, Sept. 18, 2026.<\/p>\n

The Islamic Center of San Diego was one of the many mosques or community centers across more than 15 states that featured voter tabling as part of National Muslim Voter Registration Day.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year is a very important year for us to send a message to our community that they are still worthy, they are Americans that they deserve to be able to participate in democracy while very powerful people in this country are telling us we don’t belong here,\u201d said MPower Change<\/a> executive director Linda Sarsour.<\/p>\n

She said her organization has led the multi-state event since 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the issues at the forefront of the minds of Muslim Americans is the war in Iran, it\u2019s what’s happening in Gaza, but it’s also affordability,\u201d Sarsour said. \u201cWe are also worried about ICE and the way ICE is engaging in raids in Muslim and other immigrant communities.”<\/p>\n

\"Muslims<\/p>\n

Muslims gather for a sermon and prayer inside Islamic Center of San Diego, Sept. 18, 2026.<\/p>\n

For the Muslim community in San Diego, the pain from May\u2019s mass shooting at the Islamic Center that left five people dead<\/a> hasn\u2019t gone away. The gunmen were motivated by white nationalism and the shooting is being investigated as a hate crime.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fear is still here. When community members come to the Islamic Center now they are looking (over) their shoulders to be honest with you. Many families stopped bringing their kids here,\u201d said Imam Taha Hassane.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week San Diego City Council adopted a working definition of Islamophobia<\/a> with the intention of taking a moral stance against hate.<\/p>\n

\"Organizers<\/p>\n

Organizers prepare voter registration tables outside of Islamic Center of San Diego, Sept. 18, 2026.<\/p>\n

As the tens of thousands<\/a> of San Diego Muslims continue healing in the aftermath of the attack, they want to ensure that their community\u2019s concerns are well represented locally and at a national level. The Imam said enough is enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want our elected officials to do the right thing to protect our community,\u201d Hassane said.<\/p>\n

The last day to register to vote for the Nov. 3 general election is Oct. 19.<\/p>\n

Eligible citizens can conditionally register to vote<\/a> through election day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the 2026 midterm elections just over a month away, there are nationwide efforts underway to register voters…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":468592,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[74,76,75],"class_list":["post-468591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=468591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/468592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}