2026 South Asian American (Asian Indian) Voter Survey Report
A visual summary of voting behavior, political attitudes, issues, media, outreach, and affordability.
The survey breaks respondents into eight ethnic categories. Asian Indian is the only South Asian ethnicity broken out individually; the survey does not provide separate figures for Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, or Nepali respondents. All figures reflect Asian Indian respondents (n=242, unless otherwise noted) compared against the full AAPI sample (n=2,066).
1. Voting Intentions & Engagement
Asian Indian voters report the strongest voter enthusiasm of any ethnic group surveyed, and a notably stronger preference for in-person voting compared with the overall AAPI sample.
| Measure / Item | Asian Indian | Overall AAPI |
|---|---|---|
| Planning to vote | 92% | 90% |
| Absolutely certain to vote | 74% | 71% |
| More enthusiastic than usual | 43% | 36% |
| Prefer voting in-person | 55% | 45% |
| Prefer voting by mail | 34% | 34% |
2. Vote Choice
Asian Indian voters show the strongest Democratic lean of any ethnic group in the survey.
| Measure / Item | Asian Indian | Overall AAPI |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. Senate — Republican | 22% | — |
| U.S. Senate — Democrat | 66% | — |
| U.S. House — Republican | 18% | — |
| U.S. House — Democrat | 66% | — |
3. Political Mood
Despite reporting the highest “always excited” rate of any group, Asian Indian respondents also report above-average anger — suggesting a more emotionally activated relationship with politics than most other AAPI subgroups.
| Measure / Item | Asian Indian | Overall AAPI |
|---|---|---|
| Exhausted | 29% | 30% |
| Angry | 24% | 22% |
| Hopeful | 14% | 11% |
| Excited | 11% | 7% |
4. Issue Priorities
Asian Indian respondents place unusually high priority on gun control (highest of any group) and comparatively lower priority on immigration and abortion than the overall sample.
| Measure / Item | Asian Indian | Overall AAPI |
|---|---|---|
| Cost of living/inflation | 53% | 59% |
| Jobs and unemployment | 44% | 43% |
| Health care | 46% | 49% |
| Gun control | 44% | 37% |
| Crime and public safety | 37% | 39% |
| Education | 44% | 42% |
| Racism/discrimination | 40% | 39% |
| War and foreign policy | 39% | 40% |
| Immigration | 34% | 35% |
| Abortion/reproductive rights | 28% | 30% |
5. Party Trust on Issues
Asian Indian respondents trust Democrats over Republicans on every issue tested, generally at rates matching or slightly exceeding the overall AAPI average.
| Issue | Asian Indian (Dem / Rep) | Overall (Dem / Rep) |
|---|---|---|
| Environment/climate | 57% / 11% | 55% / 13% |
| Health care | 56% / 13% | 52% / 16% |
| Abortion | 57% / 13% | 56% / 17% |
| Racism/discrimination | 52% / 15% | 52% / 16% |
| Social Security/Medicare | 56% / 12% | 50% / 17% |
| Education | 54% / 13% | 51% / 16% |
| Cost of living/inflation | 45% / 16% | 44% / 18% |
| Jobs/unemployment | 46% / 15% | 45% / 19% |
| Immigration | 49% / 22% | 48% / 25% |
| Crime/public safety | 44% / 21% | 39% / 25% |
| War/foreign policy | 49% / 11% | 45% / 18% |
6. Favorability
| Figure / Group | Very Unfavorable | Favorable (any) |
|---|---|---|
| Trump | 56% very unfavorable | 20% favorable |
| Republicans in Congress | 46% very unfavorable | 25% favorable |
| Democrats in Congress | 13% very unfavorable | 53% favorable |
| Own member of Congress | 15% very unfavorable | 46% favorable |
7. Policy Positions
| Measure / Item | Asian Indian | Overall AAPI |
|---|---|---|
| Language assistance for non-English speakers | 47% | 46% |
| Vote-by-mail should be guaranteed | 51% | 53% |
| ICE agents should wear body cameras | 63% | 65% |
| Reduce ICE funding drastically | 40% | 44% |
| Support for unpaid family caregivers | 38% | 42% |
| Social Security protections | 60% | 68% |
8. Media Consumption & Trust
Asian Indian respondents rely most heavily on English-language sources of any ethnic group in the survey, and use WhatsApp for news at a higher rate than the overall sample.
| Measure / Item | Asian Indian | Overall AAPI |
|---|---|---|
| News mainly in English | 88% | 78% |
| Regularly use Asian ethnic media | 16% | 14% |
| Print/digital newspapers | 31% | 35% |
| Television | 46% | 47% |
| YouTube | 34% | 43% |
| 28% | 35% | |
| WhatsApp (news) | 16% | 11% |
9. Party Outreach
Asian Indian voters are among the better-reached groups by the Democratic Party, alongside relatively strong reach from community organizations.
| Measure / Item | Asian Indian | Overall AAPI |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party contact | 60% | 58% |
| Republican Party contact | 42% | 42% |
| Community organizations | 60% | 58% |
10. Affordability
Asian Indian respondents report the lowest financial strain on housing and elder care of any ethnic group in the survey, while health care affordability remains a strain above the overall average.
| Measure / Item | Asian Indian | Overall AAPI |
|---|---|---|
| Housing/rent | 50% | 59% |
| Health care | 66% | 63% |
| Food/groceries | 44% | 48% |
| Education | 25% | 27% |
| Childcare | 20% | 16% |
| Elder care | 18% | 24% |
Key Takeaways
- Highest Democratic lean of any AAPI ethnic group — 66% Democrat in both Senate and House races.
- Most enthusiastic and most “excited” about voting of any group, despite exhaustion levels similar to the overall sample.
- Distinct issue profile: unusually high priority on gun control, comparatively lower priority on immigration and abortion.
- Strong Democratic and community-organization outreach relative to other AAPI groups.
- Most English-dominant media consumption of any group, with WhatsApp playing an outsized role relative to the overall sample.
- Relatively stronger financial standing — lowest reported difficulty affording housing and elder care of any group tested.
- No further sub-ethnic breakdown exists within the “Asian Indian” category in this dataset.
2026 AAPI Voter Survey Slide Deck and AAVS 2026 disaggregated results / crosstabulations, APIA Vote & AAPI Data. Survey fielded June 3–July 27, 2026, among 2,066 AAPI registered voters, including 242 Asian Indian respondents.