NYC Comptroller John Liu and U.S. Representative Yvette Clarke at a Chand Raat festival in Midwood, Brooklyn. (Photo: Mohsin Zaheer)

NEW YORK–You’ll find many different kinds of signs on the storefronts along Coney Island Avenue in the Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn nicknamed “Little Pakistan,” but you probably won’t find any concerning a candidate running in today’s primary election.

According to the 2000 Census, there were 34,310 Pakistani-Americans living in New York City, with over 40 percent of them in Brooklyn. (The number in 2010 is surely much higher, since the community’s rate of growth jumped 154 percent from 1990-2000.) But according to the Census, only about 10,000 of the Pakistani immigrants in New York are U.S. citizens who have the potential to vote. Many are not registered voters.

Possibly for that reason, there has been little courting of their votes by Democratic or Republican candidates running for office this fall.

“For me the reason that there is no sense of election in Little Pakistan is that I am Republican, and no Republican candidate has sent or mailed any election campaign material to me,” said Ghulam Farid Langrial.

Ali Akbar Mirza, a former candidate who ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the Nassau County Legislature, wondered if the reason politicians weren’t coming to Midwood might be because they didn’t feel it would be worth their while. “Those who participate are being contacted by the politicians. Almost all the candidates who run for the elections have a list of people who have record of voting, so their first priority is to contact them.”

But politicians may be underestimating the potential of these new citizens, some of whom hold tightly to the parties they view as improving their lives in the U.S.

“I am registered Republican because of President Reagan who gave amnesty to undocumented immigrants in 1986,” Mr. Langrial said. “I am still committed to be Republican,” he added.

Last Thursday, less than a week before the primary election, there was an event for Chand Raat (which translates as “night of the moon,” a festival that is celebrated the night before Eid ul Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan) held in Midwood’s Little Pakistan. Hundreds of members of the community gathered for this cultural and traditional event.

But unlike recent community events in other New York neighborhoods that drew political candidates running in contested elections, there weren’t any tables displaying political fliers or brochures for attorney general or governor.

Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY) did show up at the Chand Raat festival, partaking in the celebration of one of the biggest Muslim holidays of the year with her Pakistani-American constituents. Clarke is running for re-election in New York’s 11th district, which includes Midwood, without any opposition in Tuesday’s primary.

She agreed to some extent that politicians show up when they need votes, but said that’s not the case with her.

“We all have a responsibility to invite our elected officials to come and play their role, ” she emphasized.

Congresswoman Clarke said the reason that there is no sense of an upcoming primary election in Midwood, or in many parts of New York, is because the concept of midterm elections “is not understood by many people in many communities.”

But she was confident that the Pakistani community would get more involved in the next presidential election. “We will see more and more activities pick up with the passage of time,” Clarke predicted.

“I am a good example of what it means for an immigrant community to participate in the political process. My mother was the first foreign-born woman, Una Clarke, elected as a city councilwoman. I succeeded her in the City Council and later was elected congresswoman.  All you need is to participate,” Clarke said.

Clarke may be right, but it’s evident that many Pakistani-Americans in Midwood are simply unaware there is a political process to participate in this fall.

When this reporter asked Mr. Sallahuddin, 44, a contractor by profession, who he was planning to vote for on Tuesday, he was surprised to hear there was a primary election.

“My friend, I am not the only one, go on the street and ask the common New Yorker, half of them don’t know about election,” Sallahuddin scoffed.

Community organizations, which often serve to educate new immigrants about the American system, haven’t been focused on bringing Pakistani-immigrants in Midwood to the polls.

Asif Baig who is a naturalized U.S. citizen and a registered Democrat said, “I know there will be a primary election on Tuesday and I was told by my neighbor (who is)  a social worker, not by any of our community organizations.”

Qudsia Awan, an independent candidate for the New York State Assembly. (Photo: Mohsin Zaheer)