Outside a polling place on the University of Pennsylvania’s campus, a small group of people urged students entering the building to write in “Uncommitted,” rather than cast a vote for President Joe Biden in the presidential primary race. They hope to send a message to Biden that they reject U.S. support for Israel during the country’s war in Gaza, which has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.
“For way too long, the Democratic Party has just accepted that they’ll have the Muslim vote,” said Rayane, a student who is a registered independent and could not vote in Tuesday’s primary. Rayane declined to provide a last name for fear of retribution. “I don’t know if we have enough power to put someone into office, but I think it speaks volumes if we have enough power to take someone out.”
Uncommitted PA, a group formed to encourage Democratic Pennsylvania voters not to support Biden in the primary, joins a movement in other states that saw more than 100,000 Democratic primary voters in Michigan cast “Uncommitted” votes.
The Pennsylvania group is calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, and for the U.S. to stop sending aid to Israel and reinstate funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA). They hope to organize at least 40,000 “Uncommitted” write-in votes Tuesday. Biden won the swing state by just over 80,000 votes in 2020.
Samah Elhajibrahim, a recent PhD graduate at Penn, voted “Uncommitted” in the Democratic presidential primary Tuesday, as well as in other down-ballot races where Democratic incumbents have not pushed for a ceasefire.
“Genocide is taking place, and we are part of this in the United States,” Elhajibrahim said. “It’s our weapons. It’s our taxes. We can’t just pretend that it’s not on us. We have power. We have agency, and this is the time to do it.”
Elhajibrahim, who is Palestinian, said she has not yet decided whether she’ll support Biden in November’s general election, when he’ll face Republican Donald Trump.
“The fact that that’s our choice, and we call it a democracy, is ridiculous,” she said. “We don’t have real choices. … The only agenda the Democrats are putting forward is, ‘Oh, do you want Trump?’ … It’s a scary fear. That’s all they do, and I’m kind of tired of that. I have to vote my conscience. … If I vote for a Democrat again, it’s pretty much sending them a message that they can keep on doing what they’re doing.”
Rayane plans to vote independent or third party in November’s general election.
“I don’t think it can be worse than actively perpetuating the slaughter of thousands and thousands of people,” she said.
State Rep. Chris Rabb sat near the Uncommitted PA group Tuesday afternoon. He showed up to support young people protesting, he said. He declined to say whether he supported Uncommitted PA’s specific demands.
“These types of nonviolent civil disobedience, direct actions, organizing — this is what’s made our country better,” he said. “I don’t think we should be supporting the state of Israel as long as they’re doing what they’re doing.”
» READ MORE: The Uncommitted: Pa. primary is another litmus test for Biden’s handling of Israel-Hamas war in Gaza