Protestor at a march at the Plaza in Arcata last November. [Photo by Ryan Hutson]
Can California Democrats Protest Biden’s Israel Policy by Their Vote in the Primary?
Stay up-to-date with free briefings on topics that matter to all Californians. Subscribe to CalMatters today for nonprofit news in your inbox.
Democrats unhappy with President Biden’s steadfast support of Israel in the Gaza war mounted a concerted effort in Michigan to protest, urging voters to mark “uncommitted” on their ballots to call for a ceasefire.
More than 100,000 voted that way last Tuesday, compared to more than 800,000 for Biden — though the “uncommitted” percentage is not wildly out of line from recent presidential primaries in Michigan.
But can Democratic voters do the same in California?
Some readers want to know, wondering if they could send a message by writing in “uncommitted” or “ceasefire” instead of a candidate’s name on the March 5 primary presidential ballot.
The Secretary of State’s office says that only votes for Biden, the seven other official candidates on the Democratic ballot or the six certified write-in candidates will be counted for the presidential race.
But leaving the presidential race blank or “editorializing” by writing in another name or phrase won’t invalidate the rest of your ballot, unless it “impedes tabulation,” in which case it will be set aside and reviewed by election officials.
Besides registered Democrats, no party preference voters can also cast ballots in the primary if you request a Democratic presidential ballot.
To minimize the risk of invalidating one’s vote, California leaders with the Council on American-Islamic Relations told CalMatters they are calling for Democratic voters to leave the presidential race blank and make sure to vote in other contests.
“We are asking all of our voters to vote down-ballot, and many of them are looking for candidates who are asking or calling for a ceasefire…. We don’t want to take the risk of affecting other down-ballots, especially with tight Senate and congressional races,” said Al Jabbar, secretary of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, California PAC.
Rallies calling for a ceasefire are planned for Saturday in cities across California and the nation. The Gaza war has been a contentious issue in California politics ever since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7.
Debate over U.S. policy led to disruptions at the state Democratic Party convention in November, protests during the first day of the state Legislature and divisions on college campuses. In the primary campaign, the issue is helping distinguish the three leading Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate.
Join the discussion! For rules visit: https://kymkemp.com/commenting-rules
Comments system how-to: https://wpdiscuz.com/community/postid/10599/
This is just a throw away vote. Don’t do this. Biden won’t see it, no one will notice your protest as they throw your ballot in the garbage. Pointless and so childish. Might as well just not vote at all. All you’re doing is playing into the hands of the GOP who will do anything to screw up this election. You good with that?
That’s very counterproductive. Our votes are always important regardless of political affiliation. Americans died for your right to vote, so use it.
You probably should write uncommitted on November ballot to really set the record straight. Typical democrat thinking, crack me up.
Bidens support for of the Zionist genocide is a war crime. He should be prosecuted as a war criminal. Anyone who supports Israel has blood on their hands.
Agree, the news this morning that the IDF gunned down starving civilians seeking food from aid trucks broke another piece of my heart. The fact that our government unconditionally supports the Netanyahu regime sickens me.
Spend a bit of your energy of hate on learning how Netanyahu got his surname. It directly came from his grandfather being born in the Russian Pale of Settlement and seeking freedom from that area of bias and pogroms by fleeing eventually to Palestine.
https://israel365news.com/297183/biblical-origins-benjamin-netanyahu-name-heralds-strong-victory-right-jewish-world/
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Mileikowsky
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pale_of_Settlement
Being sickened by actions of our government does not equal hate so speak for yourself
Your post about the IDF didn’t happen and was perpetrated by Hamas and spewed by our biased and corrupt media that’s the propaganda arm of the democrat party.
So you support the genocide of Israelis? Or, as Arab Palestinians have pointed out, against Jews in general because they say they see no distinction. Because that is the alternative in supporting Palestinians and their century’s old jihad against jews, going back to the days when Jews were prevented from living in Palestine by the Ottoman empire. Anyone who supports Palestinians has blood on their hands too. Including, beside the US, Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria , etc who keep supplying arms for these wars.
So here we are again blaming only Jews for what is not the simple thing you think it is. In fact, until the antisemitism of pre WWII Europe and the refusal in the US of refugee Jews, zionism was a small extremist movement. It’s the idea that Europe and the US was not a safe place for Jews that created Israel in the first place. Seems we still haven’t learned from that in the US and insist on keeping the flames of fear alive here to by choosing to support the non Jew people who are even more genocidal than Israel. All they are is less capable because, in the absence of Israel, they perpetrate genocide on fellow Muslims in preference to peace and never find unity except in hatred..
But.
There’s a big difference between Jews and Israel.
Opposing what is happening from Israel, the country, is not opposing Jews.
I’m sure there are people born of Jewish decent who are appalled by the horrible actions of the Israeli government.
There is a very large Jewish population in the United States. I’m sure not all of them support murder and stealing land, which is what is happening over there.
If the leaders in Israel had lived in peace, and stayed within the legal borders given to them in 1947, and treated their neighbors with respect, instead of militarily taking their land, bit by bit, by egregiously building settlements in their neighbors land and basically treating their neighbors as non humans, there wouldn’t be a problem today.
But that’s not what happened.
The Israel experiment has failed.
The United Nations needs to step in and stop the Israelis, create a firm border with its neighbors and prevent the Israelis from encroaching on their neighbors land.
Simple.
Biden is wrong.
He’s been wrong all along.
He’s probably mired in the christian myth and guilt that makes him think the christians are supposed to protect and endorse Israel, regardless of its actions.
I can’t vote for him.
Of course, I wouldn’t vote for the orange idiot, either.
Vote Green, I say.
Blah blah blah… I’m so offended.. genocide lover ..blah blah….
Yeah you guys can Petition the DNC to stop suppressing other candidates from getting on the ballot. like Bernie Sanders, Tulsi Gabbert or Bobby Kennedy junior. There have actually been a few very good democratic presidential candidates in the last 2 cycles that were totally suppressed and not allowed to advance. The DNC these days seem to think it’s their duty as to who they allow you to vote for. Just wait until the RNC starts arbitrarily removing candidates from the ballot for crimes they have not even been convicted of, the precedent has been set.
Fully agreed! I don’t like Trump, I’m not a REP…but I sure am not a DEM anymore!
Ruling ‘gangs’ decide what er… ‘you’ want.
Face it… gangs… bloods and crips that’s what they are.
There is no decent candidate for president… from either gang.
The most sensible thing to do is vote for Trump.
Exactly!
That way he can give our tax dollars to Israel with a smile!
Kennedy
Nixon
Trump is a proven winner and patriot who loves the USA.
I am so impressed after reading the ‘Art of the Deal’ and watching his string of impressive wins the last couple months.
I think he won 5 million first, then 83 million, then in a big coup, he won 455
Million. I heard he is going to donate it all the RNC fundraising to help all the other winners.
How witty.
In reality every one of those politically motivated attempts at election interference will be overturned. Chances are he will end up being owned money for court costs…on top of the millions wasted in this witch hunt.
But hey the left cares nothing tor facts or clicks beyond today’s headline, so that is fine right?
They can save a lot of trouble by just voting for Trump. He forwards all of our money to Israel and does it with a smile not with bombs.
Robert F Kennedy Jr 2024!
who also endorses genocide
nope
IZRAEL LOVER AND GENOCIDE PROMOTER
nope
Somebody is irritable today.
No RFK jr on the write in list? This is not democracy.
Those are the rules in California.
Yes that’s where I reside and vote.
I was born here in NorCal. I prefer an open primary myself.
Who said it was Democracy?
Democracy was a form of ‘city-states’ government. They had a much smaller population where most every citizen (mostly male) could meet and vote.
Yeah I’ve never been convinced it was either, more evidence.
The United States is a republic, which means it does not have a monarch and the people delegate their responsibility to elected representatives. However, some sources also consider the United States a representative democracy, which means the people have a voice through elections. There is a debate about whether the United States is a pure democracy or a republic that protects the rights of minorities and non-majoritarian groups.