Michigan Community Leaders Encourage Voters to Choose “Uncertain“Michigan primaries hope to send a message to President Biden before November that they are unhappy with America's support for Israel in the conflict with Gaza.
“Joe Biden's position is the main driver of the conflict between Israel and Gaza,” said Hussein Tabaje, one of the organizers of the “No Vote” movement.
“We are not the people who voted us into office. We are not the people we helped elect,” Thabaje said. “More than 150,000 Arab and Muslim voters in the state of Michigan voted for who.”
In Michigan, the Democratic and Republican presidential primary ballots give voters the option of selecting a candidate or being “undecided.” A vote was “undecided,” according to Michigan Secretary of State, “indicates that the voter is voting for that political party, but is not committed to any of the candidates listed on the ballot.” Also, if there are enough “undecided” votes, the party may “send delegates to the national nominating convention who are not committed to a particular candidate.”
Michigan is an important swing state, and in 2020 Mr. Biden won by 154,000 votes, but Hillary Clinton lost in 2016 to Donald Trump, the likely GOP presidential nominee this year. It is home to a large community of Arab and Muslim Americans, 146,000 of whom voted for Mr Biden in 2020 and Many of them Disagree with Biden's position on the Israel-Hamas war.
If the Vote Uncommitted movement in Michigan can get tens of thousands of voters to vote undecided, Mr. The Israeli military has halted or restricted supplies and aid to civilians as it conducts military operations in Gaza. More than 25,000 people have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
The Vote Uncommitted movement in Michigan is similar to efforts to get New Hampshire primary voters to write “Ceasefire” on their ballots. Last month's flagship “ceasefire” received About 1.2% of the Democratic primary vote, or 1,512. However, New Hampshire has a much smaller population and a different demographic profile than Michigan.
Earlier this month, Biden sent campaign manager Julie Chavez-Rodriguez to Michigan to meet with Arab American community leaders. They are refused to meet her.
Dear Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, “A Palestinian's life is not measured by the number of votes.” Said in X. “When elected officials see the atrocities in Gaza as nothing more than an electoral issue, they turn our indescribable pain into political calculations.” In another post by X, Hammoud Said A Dearborn resident has lost 80 family members in Gaza so far.
Vote Uncommitted is the Israel-Hamas war Mr. It encourages voters unhappy with Biden's position to vote undecided, regardless of their party affiliation or background. The campaign describes itself as a “multiracial and multireligious anti-war campaign” in Michigan.
“This is not an endorsement of Trump or his desire to return to power,” the campaign said In the states. “We're sending a warning sign to President Biden and the Democratic Party in February that will be delayed in November.”
A Similar motivation Michigan Democratic primary voters in 2008 voted “undecided” over Hillary Clinton when they were unhappy that Barack Obama was not on the ballot. The DNC allowed the state to hold its primary out of order, defying the Michigan Democratic National Committee's national calendar and violating its primary order. As a result, Obama withdrew his name from the Michigan primary ballot. That year, nearly 240,000 Michiganders voted “undecided.”
The state's Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer, recently Agreed CBS News' “Face the Nation” says there is “a lot of anger” and “a lot of personal pain” surrounding the Israel-Hamas war.
“These are legitimate and raw feelings that people have, and they're entitled to their opinions,” Whitmer said.
