Ingham County 'uncommitted' voters aim to keep momentum

EAST LANSING – In Michigan’s presidential primary, more than 100,000 Democratic voters cast ballots for "uncommitted" instead of President Joe Biden, an action some in Ingham County are following with increased activism for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war.

In Ingham County, 13% of Democratic primary voters voted uncommitted in February, in line with the statewide trend.

“We did not end our campaign when our primary ended in Michigan,” Thasin Sardar, of the Islamic Society of Greater Lansing, said.

Sardar said members of the movement continued to spread the effort to other states. They’ve called friends and allies urging them to vote uncommitted or similar designations in their states. Other states have reported tens of thousands of voters selecting either “Uncommitted,” “No preference,” or “Noncommitted delegate,” according to NPR.

Sardar said people in mid-Michigan are working hard with voters in other states to send uncommitted delegates to the Democratic Party convention in Chicago in August.

The uncommitted vote campaign won two delegates in Michigan’s Democratic primary.

“We are hoping that in all the states, if we can send one or two delegates, we can send a message at the Democratic Party convention. Many people disapprove of Biden’s policies,” said Sardar.

Alissa Hakim, a senior at Michigan State University and a member of MSU’s Hurriya Coalition, a group of 20 organizations trying to bring attention to the rising Palestinian death toll, said she was pleased to see the number of uncommitted votes in Ingham County.

The counties with the biggest share of uncommitted votes in the Democratic primary were Wayne and Washtenaw, both with around 17%. Ingham was one of a handful hovering around 13% but had a lower uncommitted share than other counties in that group, including Kent and Mackinac.

Hakim is from Dearborn — where 55% of residents are Arab American — but she will be voting on campus this year.

“What we can do going forward is to maintain that momentum that we got,” she said.

She said Hurriya is trying to get more people involved and has seen success working with MSU students and connecting with faculty, staff, and local community members for phone banking.

Hakim said the goal is to continue educating people and get them more involved, and said uncommitted votes do not mean they support former President Donald Trump.

She said she will figure out who to vote for in terms of a third party because she wants to avoid voting for Biden or Trump.

In April, Hurriya set up a Gaza solidarity encampment, joining other college campuses in the U.S. calling for their schools to divest from Israel amid the ongoing war in Gaza. After three days, the coalition shut down the encampment, saying it was a short-term strike meant to amplify its demands for divestment.

While their protest has been put on pause, MSU students supported University of Michigan students as they continued their protest in Ann Arbor. They previously confronted the MSU Board of Trustees at a board meeting in February, questioning a number of the university’s investments, including the payment of $236,000 in aid to the state of Israel.

Laura Sager, a volunteer in Lansing, said she strongly supports the campaign in Ingham County.

Sager, a member of the board of directors of Peace Education Center, coordinates the Coalition for Free Palestine, which includes various organizations. She also supports Lansing for Palestine, which asked for a cease-fire resolution from the Lansing City Council. The resolution was approved Feb. 13, according to WKAR.

Lexis Zeidan, the lead organizer for Listen to Michigan and the national spokesperson for the Uncommitted National Movement, said after the primary, the goal in Ingham County and elsewhere is voter contact through phone and text banking and relational support with organizations.

She said the next phase is organizing a national delegate strategy and taking their anti-war message to the Democratic Party convention. They will have delegate training to ensure they are all on the same page regarding the pro-peace movement.

“Our goal and focus are the convention, and we have not discussed November right now,” she said.

This article is part of a collaboration between The Free Press, a Michigan State University course and the American Communities Project to tell the stories of voters, their experiences, and their political motivations in communities across Michigan leading up to the 2024 election. Connect with us at votervoices@freepress.com, and read our previous stories about the counties we're focusing on: Livingston, Ingham, Schoolcraft, Osceola, Wayne, Kent, Saginaw and Newaygo.

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Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect the accurate role of Alissa Hakim with Hurriya Coalition.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ingham County activism didn't stop at 'uncommitted' vote