As of Tuesday evening the “Listen to Michigan” movement looked set to comfortably surpass its goal of rallying 10,000 uncommitted voters to its cause.
In the last three election cycles, some 20,000 voters have ticked “uncommitted” in the state’s Democratic primary, but that number was already at 19,000 soon after polls closed.
The protest never threatened Biden’s easy march to the nomination, as his sole challenger, Minnesota congressman Dean Phillips, had won just 2.7 per cent support when voting ended at 9pm.
But the significant number of “uncommitted” votes could set off alarm bells ahead of the November general election, when Biden cannot afford to see his coalition eroded in the swing state.
The war started when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct 7, resulting in the deaths of about 1,160 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.
But concern has mounted amid the high civilian death toll in Israel’s retaliatory campaign, now at almost 30,000, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
EASY SWEEP FOR TRUMP
A similar write-in campaign calling for a ceasefire during the New Hampshire primary went nowhere, but Michigan has a significantly larger Muslim and Arab population.
The US Census Bureau estimates the statewide population claiming Middle Eastern or North African descent at 310,000, although the Arab American Institute says that figure is likely a significant undercount.
Source: CNA
