Vote "Uncommitted" in Maryland to Tell President Biden: CEASEFIRE NOW

Update on May 14th: Help with phone bank (up until May 15): https://listentomaryland.org/v..
Vote Uncommitted Maryland *** #ListentoMaryland

Presidential primary elections are usually sleepy affairs for the incumbent's political party. The U.S. president (of course, Zzzz) wins his party's nomination to serve another four years. But the wake-up alarms rang loud and clear when voters in Michigan and Minnesota decided to use the primary ballot as a platform for protesting United State's ongoing support for the slaughter of innocent women, children, and men in Gaza.

Michigan, itself a key battleground state, is home to large Arab and Muslim populations that have become increasingly politically engaged in recent years. But the war in Gaza has been a particularly galvanizing issue. ... The Listen to Michigan campaign aimed to muster 10,000 “uncommitted” votes in protest of Biden’s support for Israel. Instead, on February 27, Michigan saw 101,000 ballots cast for “uncommitted” in the Democratic primary — smashing the organizers’ goals. “Uncommitted” accounted for 13 percent of the total vote, Al Jazeera reported.

That huge success in February is being amplified in other states, where the positive response of voters have exceeded the goals of human rights organizers. Is the Democratic Party Getting the message? War is not the answer.

If you care about this issue, then please notice that the specific ballot language (for sending your protest to the Democratic Party and the president) varies state by state. For example, Colorado has a "non-committed delegate" option, while Massachusetts and North Carolina have a "no preference" option.

In Maryland, the Democratic primary ballot has a line reading. "Uncommitted to Any Presidential Candidate." That's the one to check before you mail in your ballot, vote early, or show up at your polling place on May 14, 2024. (For example, here's how the ballot looks in Montgomery County, MD).

And there's more that concerned Americans can do. For example, the Uncommitted National Movement invites volunteers "to phone-bank from your home or talk to your friends and family. We have to talk to thousands of voters and get the word out."

The leaders of the Democratic Party still have not understood the depth of the moral damage done by President Biden's unconditional military, financial, and diplomatic support of Israel's genocidal war against Gaza.

These primaries are an early litmus test for how much Biden's stance on Gaza could hurt his reelection bid; the threat to Biden's reelection isn't that anti-war Democrats will vote for Trump, it's that they won't vote at all." –The Uncommitted National Movement.

James Zogby, President of the Arab American Institute and Managing Director of the public-opinion-polling firm Zogby Research Services, LLC (ZRS) writes,

[T]he uncommitted protest vote was one of the largest ever recorded and clearly enough to make a difference in November. ... [I]t’s dangerous and shortsighted to dismiss any groups of voters when we know from current polls and the 2020 election that a combined total of 70,000 votes in key toss-up states could shift the election’s outcome.

Civic groups in Maryland are working hard to educate voters about their power of choice. For example, Listen to Maryland states how the president is failing to represent "the vast majority of Democrats who want a ceasefire and an end to the funding of Israel’s war in Gaza." That effort is assisted by Unity Lab PAC, which has raised thousands of dollars for voter-education efforts. Metro DC – Democratic Socialists of America offers resources on the Uncommitted vote (scroll down to the colorful flyer at the end of that webpage); if you live in Maryland, you can sign a pledge to vote Uncommitted. And there are many non-election advocacy efforts, such as the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights calling upon us to ...

Hit the streets to stop arming Israel. Protest, wheatpaste, distribute mock Tax Day “coupons” flyers, or organize your own local action with our signs and toolkits.

Human life is in the balance in Gaza, and so is the fate of our nation. The United States cannot survive this war of genocide. It is tearing us apart, and it must stop. Democratic voters in Maryland can help stop it. Vote "Undecided."

Steven Sellers Lapham is a resident of Gaithersburg, Maryland

Notes

See ballot language at https://elections.maryland.gov...

See also, https://inthesetimes.com/article/uncommitted-democratic-voting-state-list