Some 13.2% of Michigan Democrats cast protest vote against Biden’s Israel support – tally

US President Joe Biden’s campaign and top Democratic officials vow to double down on efforts to win over voters, after Michigan registered a stronger-than-anticipated protest vote over his support of Israel in its war against the Hamas terror group.

About 13.2 percent of Michigan Democrats cast a ballot for “uncommitted” in the primary, following a weeks-long push by activists, an Edison Research tally shows.

With about 85% of all votes counted, the uncommitted vote was already over 100,000 votes, far higher than expectations. The Uncommitted movement, also called Listen to Michigan, had set a goal of drawing 10,000 votes — the margin by which Donald Trump won the state in the 2016 presidential election.

Turnout for the Democratic primary was also high, at some 900,000 voters overall; about 81% of those votes backed Biden.

Biden’s campaign will continue to “make our case in the state – to both uncommitted voters and the entire Michigan constituency,” a senior campaign official says as the results were tallied. “The President will continue to work for peace in the Middle East.”

The campaign was initiated by activists from Michigan’s large Arab-American population, which numbers more than 300,000. Since the early days of the Israel-Hamas war, Arab and Muslim Americans have warned that Biden’s staunch support of Israel could cost their votes in November.