Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses.

 

Blank Votes in Georgia Confirm the Michigan Uncommitted Trend of Punishing Biden in 2024

March 13, 2024

 

Palestinian American State of Georgia Representative Ruwa Romman, D-Duluth, 2024	Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest during a visit by President Joe Biden in Warren, Michigan, February 1, 2024
Leave it Blank in Georgia election poster	I'm a Georgia voter sticker

 

Editor's Note:

As of Wednesday, March 13, 2024, morning, Georgia is still counting the primary election ballots of Tuesday,  March 12, 2024.

The Georgia "Leave it Blank" campaign had a goal of 1,200 votes, which constitute 10% of Biden's margin of the 12,000 victory votes, which he won in 2020.

So far, 6,400 have been counted, which is half the votes Biden needed to win in 2020.

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Here's a look at how the 'Leave it Blank' protest campaign among Democratic voters in Georgia did

Author: Jonathan Raymond

(11Alive), March 13, 2024, 7:47 AM EDT

ATLANTA —

In metro Atlanta's core five counties, the "Leave it Blank" campaign gained traction among Democratic voters in the range of a little more than 3%.

As of Wednesday morning, the undervote (blank vote) total in these five counties was 4,535 out of 146,248 Democratic primary ballots—or about 3.1%.

Georgia's 2024 presidential primary election results are in, though they won't show you at first glance, one of the more intriguing elements of the campaign.

Some Democratic voters sought to replicate the protest vote seen in places like Michigan, where "uncommitted" received about 13% of the vote. In Georgia, organizers of the protest vote campaign encouraged Democratic voters who disagree with the Biden administration's handling of the Israel-Hamas war to submit a blank ballot since there is no "uncommitted" option. 

The state's official results on the Secretary of State's Office website do not show a count for blank ballots, but you can tease out how the "Leave it Blank" campaign fared by downloading county-level data.

The summary reports available on the county results pages (right-hand side of the page) show how many "undervotes" (blank votes) there were in both the Republican and Democratic races. An "undervote" is noted when a voter selects fewer than the maximum number of candidates allowed in a race. 

In this case, Democratic voters were allowed one choice among President Joe Biden, Marianne Williamson, and Dean Phillips on the primary ballot. An undervote would indicate no choice among those was made—i.e., a blank ballot was submitted.

So how many blank ballots were submitted?

The county-level data for the core five metro Atlanta counties revealed the following undervote (blank votes) totals:

Fulton County: 1,735 undervotes out of 46,835 (official votes total + undervotes) (3.7%)

DeKalb County: 1,445 undervotes out of 43,680 (3.3%)

Gwinnett County: 663 undervotes out of 18,940 (3.5%)

Cobb County: 631 undervotes out of 24,058 (2.6%)

Clayton County: 61 undervotes out of 12,735 (0.5%)

As of Wednesday morning, the undervote total in these five counties was 4,535 out of 146,248 Democratic primary ballots—or about 3.1%.

Georgia blank ballot Democratic protest votes data | 11alive.com

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How the ‘Keep It Blank’ campaign is pressuring Biden over Gaza

Atlantic Civic Circle, March 12, 2024

By Ryan Zickgraf

Naziya Noorani cast her ballot in DeKalb County for the Democratic presidential primary on Tuesday morning without marking it, which set off an alert from the voting machine. “I thought maybe it won’t be counted. But I just kind of went with my gut at that point and cast it anyway,” said Noorani.

It was no error that Noorani, a nurse in the Decatur area, didn’t choose a Democratic presidential candidate in Georgia’s March 12 primary. She’s one of a number of Atlanta voters who participated in the “Leave It Blank” campaign. It’s part of an effort by several Georgia progressive groups to pressure President Joe Biden to call for a permanent cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, by refusing to vote for him in the Democratic primary.

“It’s sending a message to Democrats, because they’re very capable of sending aid to Gaza and truly negotiating a ceasefire instead of consistently voting against it,” said Noorani, who learned about the campaign from a friend’s Instagram post.

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Similar protest-vote campaigns have gone viral in other states during the 2024 Democratic presidential primary. The effort started with Michigan’s Feb. 27 primary, where 101,000 Democratic voters, or 13.2%, marked “uncommitted,” instead of voting for Biden or another Democratic candidate. Voters in other states did the same for last week’s Super Tuesday primaries, with “uncommitted” winning as much as 29% of Democratic primary votes in Hawaii and 19% in Minnesota.

Georgia does not offer an “uncommitted” option, but voters can instead leave their ballot blank. 

Disaffected Georgia Republicans employed that tactic in the 2022 U.S. Senate runoff to indicate their refusal to vote for the Republican candidate, Hershel Walker. In that race, 2,694 voters left their ballots blank, including former Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan, but that made up just a tiny fraction of the 1,719,483 ballots cast for Walker. Walker’s Democratic opponent, Sen. Raphael Warnock, won the Georgia runoff with 51.37% or 1,816,096 votes

“Leave It Blank”

The “Leave It Blank” campaign in Georgia has been a last-minute scramble. 

State Rep. Ruwa Romman (D-Duluth), Georgia’s first Palestinian-American legislator, said she was inspired to act after the Michigan primary two weeks ago.

“I wanted to do something in Georgia, but what can we do? I don’t think any of the other candidates deserve our vote–like Marianne [Williamson] can’t even decide if she’s still in the race or not,” Romman told Atlanta Civic Circle on Tuesday. 

“So what if you went and you voted–but left it blank to show that you’re a Democratic voter but, right now, can’t see yourself affirmatively pushing the button for Biden?” she said.

Romman shared the idea in a group WhatsApp chat, and “people got excited about it,” she said. Quickly, a new coalition formed, dubbed “Listen to Georgia.” Over the last 10 days, 16 political and community-based groups joined, including the Peach State Muslim Coalition, New Disabled South Rising, The Movement for Black Lives Action Fund, CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) Action, and Jewish Voice for Peace Action.

“It’s been incredible,” said Romman. “By Saturday night, I went to an event, and somebody had already printed out a ‘Leave It Blank’ flier with instructions.” Since then, over 500 volunteers from the Listen to Georgia coalition have emailed, texted, and called thousands of Georgia voters. They’ve also distributed flyers to voters in 19 cities across the state that say: “Tell Biden, ceasefire now! Leave it blank on March 12.” 

Members of Jewish Voice for Peace Action say they spent the days leading up to the primary leading phone and text banks and canvassing to try and convince Georgia voters to leave their ballots blank–despite disagreement about the Israel-Gaza conflict among the Atlanta Jewish community.

“Certainly, there is division within the broader Jewish community and Jewish establishment around this issue,” said Allison Glass, a Jewish Voice for Peace Action spokesperson. 

“There are a lot of people who are saying that speaking out against this crisis in Gaza is antisemitic.” Glass said. “But there are more and more people who are rising up and saying ‘absolutely not’—not only is speaking out against what’s happening not antisemitic, it is actually coming from our place of Jewish values of justice.”

The Jewish Federation of Atlanta did not respond to multiple attempts for comment.

How much impact? 

It remains to be seen how much influence the national vote protest will have on Biden to call a ceasefire. The total number of blank ballots in Georgia is expected to be reported by Wednesday afternoon.

The Listen to Georgia coalition’s goal was for 1,179 Democratic primary voters to leave their ballot blank. That represents 10% of Biden’s narrow 11,779 vote margin of victory in Georgia in 2020, out of almost 5 million ballots cast. 

“There are many more people than that who are upset about what is happening in Gaza with the support of the Biden administration. What we hope to do during this primary is to do what voters in Michigan did—send the president the message: ’You’ve got to change course, or you risk losing critical voters in the November election,’” said Edward Ahmed Mitchell, a spokesperson for CAIR Action.

However, turnout for Georgia’s presidential primary was low, since both parties’ primary winners were foreordained. Both Biden and Trump are expected to cruise to the nomination from their respective parties for the Nov. 5 general election. 

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he expected only 9% to 10% of registered Georgia voters to turn out,  or fewer than 800,000. That compares with 2 million presidential primary voters in 2020. 

An election worker told Atlanta Civic Circle on Tuesday that only 40 ballots had been cast at their precinct at Piedmont Park by noon, slightly more than the number cast for the school board election last fall. 

Noorani, the Decatur nurse, said she hopes Biden and the Democratic Party get the message from all of the blank and “uncommitted” ballots cast nationally. Even though she voted for Biden in 2020, she added, she’s in wait-and-see mode for November. 

For Romman, who’s the granddaughter of Palestinian refugees, it’s personal. The state legislator was born in Jordan and moved to the United States at age 7.

“Everyone I know has been personally affected,” she said. “We have family friends who’ve lost countless family members.” She added that she knows someone who “helped raise millions of dollars” for Biden–and has now lost over 80 family members. 

“So this is not hypothetical,” said Romman. “I’m just scared it might be too late. And so that’s why we’re trying so hard on the electoral side.”

How the ‘Keep It Blank’ campaign is pressuring Biden over Gaza - Atlanta Civic Circle

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Democratic senators demand Biden halt military aid to Israel

By Alexander Bolton

The Hill, March 13, 2024 

Agroup of Senate Democrats led by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) are demanding President Biden comply with the Foreign Assistance Act and cut off military aid to Israel.

The senators argued in a Monday letter to Biden that Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act requires the Biden administration halt the sale and transfer of weapons to Israel if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government continues to block U.S. humanitarian assistance to Gaza.

“The United States should not provide military assistance to any country that interferes with U.S. humanitarian assistance,” they wrote, noting the language of the statute would still allow the United States to provide missile defense systems and supplies, such as the Iron Dome, to protect Israeli civilians from rocket attacks.

But the senators say the law clearly prohibits the transfer of weapons such as 155 mm artillery shells that are being used to bombard neighborhoods in Gaza.

Sens. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) also signed the letter. Sanders, an Independent, caucuses with Democrats.

The death toll in Gaza has topped 31,000, according to Palestinian officials.

“Federal law is clear, and, given the urgency of the crisis in Gaza, and the repeated refusal of Prime Minister Netanyahu to address U.S. concerns on this issue, immediate action is necessary to secure a change in policy by his government,” the senators wrote.

Related video: Israeli officials taking Biden’s red line ‘very seriously,’ says former ambassador (NBC News)

How concerned should Netanyahu be Loaded: 19.64% Current Time 0:14 / Duration 5:05 NBC News Israeli officials taking Biden’s red line ‘very seriously,’ says former ambassador.

Public attention has become more focused in recent days on the starvation of civilians in Gaza, such as Yazan Kafarneh, a 10-year-old boy whose skeletal image was featured prominently on the front page of Sunday’s New York Times.

“Your Administration has repeatedly stated, and the United Nations and numerous aid organizations have confirmed, that Israel’s restrictions on humanitarian access, both at the border and within Gaza, are one of the primary causes of this humanitarian catastrophe,” the senators wrote.

They cited the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act, which states “no assistance” shall be provided under that law or the Arms Export Control Act to any country that restricts, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance.

“We urge you to make it clear to the Netanyahu government that failure to immediately and dramatically expand humanitarian access and facilitate safe aid deliveries throughout Gaza will lead to serious consequences,” they wrote.

Democratic senators demand Biden halt military aid to Israel (msn.com) 

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Trump leads Biden narrowly in Georgia as general election comes into focus — CBS News Battleground poll

By Kabir Khanna, Anthony Salvanto, Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus

March 12, 2024 / 6:18 PM EDT / CBS News

With President Biden and Donald Trump on the verge of clinching the presidential nomination, their rematch in Georgia in the general election looks like another close race. Trump is just ahead of Mr. Biden in likely voters' current preferences, with a three-point lead that is within the margin of error. This edge is driven by a small group of Mr. Biden's 2020 voters switching to Trump, boosted by favorable views of how Trump's policies would affect Georgians' pocketbooks.

The president's message in his State of the Union address that democracy is under threat at home may resonate with Democrats, but voters in Georgia are likelier to say it's Trump than Mr. Biden who would strengthen U.S. democracy. In fact, Mr. Biden's numbers on this issue are net negative, with a third of his own voters saying his second-term policies wouldn't make a difference.

Trump's numbers on democracy are driven by his own voters, many of whom still believe there was widespread voter fraud in Georgia in 2020. Another reason Trump's backers might give him the edge on democracy is the widespread feeling among them that the charges and indictments against him are politically motivated.

Democrats are also trying to raise the salience of abortion access after the Dobbs decision, keeping it on voters' radars. A majority of Georgia voters would prefer abortions in the state to be mostly, if not entirely, legal, but they are by no means all voting Democratic. About three in 10 of them currently prefer Trump to Mr. Biden, but this is another group to watch as the campaign unfolds.

At the same time, most say that Mr. Biden is not focused enough on inflation and the U.S.-Mexico border, and these views are correlated with voting intentions. Biden 2020 voters who don't think he's paying enough attention to these issues are more likely to be backing Trump today than those who say Mr. Biden's focus is about right.

Persuasion and turnout

In 2020, Georgia went blue for the first time in decades, albeit very narrowly, with Mr. Biden beating Trump by under 12,000 votes — about a quarter of a percentage point.

There is a turnout gap emerging early on, setting up a campaign not just of persuasion, but also motivation: Republicans and Trump 2020 voters are likelier than Democrats and Biden 2020 voters to say they will "definitely" vote. 

And Republicans are currently thinking about the race more than Democrats. 

Most voters here already report thinking about the presidential race "a lot" — perhaps partly due to the primaries occurring now. And while the vast majority of voters are planning to turn out this fall. This six-point turnout gap results in a likely 2024 electorate with a slightly higher share of Trump '20 voters.

On top of that, more Biden '20 voters than Trump '20 voters are now thinking of voting for the other party. To be clear, these voters constitute small but highly consequential slivers of the electorate. And Trump's current lead is more attributable to persuasion than differential turnout.

Trump indictments

The lion's share of Trump's backers would still consider him fit for the presidency if he were eventually found guilty of trying to overturn the 2020 election. (This is also the case among Trump's primary voters in recent GOP nominating contests.)  About one in five of his supporters in Georgia say they wouldn't consider him fit if he were found guilty by a court.

Could a conviction, if it happened, change any minds? The evidence is mixed. Trump voters who say they wouldn't consider him fit don't have positive evaluations for Mr. Biden, and they also express concerns about Mr. Biden's mental and physical fitness. This group may be asked to pick between two men they consider unfit for the job, albeit for different reasons.

Overall, voters across the state are more mixed on the Trump charges. There is slightly more concern that the charges are politically motivated than concern that he actually tried to overturn the election. But most say they wouldn't consider him fit to be president if he were found guilty.

Who is switching?

One of the more noticeable shifts comes from the diverse suburbs around Atlanta. Voters in this competitive part of the state were critical to Mr. Biden's success four years ago, but they now lean Trump's way.

More generally, Trump's support has improved a bit among voters of color. While the gains are modest and Mr. Biden still has a big lead among them, every potential blue-to-red switch matters in a close race.

Most Black voters feel Trump is trying to earn Black support. Black voters make up nearly a third of Georgia's electorate, and 17% of them today are picking Trump over Mr. Biden — that's a modest improvement from Trump's 2020 showing in the state. Mr. Biden's path to victory in the state relies on maintaining dominant margins among this key group. This is a key group to watch, because it would be much harder for the president to replicate his 2020 performance if more of them switch their support, or if a substantial segment of Black voters aren't motivated to turn out this year.

Aside from voters of color, voters under 50 and men who voted for Mr. Biden four years ago are the likelier groups to be considering switching to Trump. Switching to Trump is also more prevalent among self-described moderates and independents, as well as voters who say Mr. Biden winning wouldn't make a difference to the strength of U.S. democracy.

Our data also shows some of the challenges ahead for the Biden campaign: mobilize more voters in these key segments of their 2020 coalition to turn out and back the president again, or at least, cast a vote against Trump. These challenges become more difficult if swing voters are more focused on inflation and pocketbook issues than on larger themes of democracy and rights.

Unlike national economic sentiment, views of Georgia's economy are net positive among voters in the state. And Gov. Brian Kemp enjoys very positive evaluations from voters, with about two thirds approving of the job he is doing. That includes roughly half of Democratic voters.

This CBS News/YouGov survey was conducted with a statewide representative sample of 1,133 registered voters in Georgia interviewed between March 4-11, 2024. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education and geographic region, based on U.S. Census data and voter files, as well as to past vote. The margin of error is ±3.9 points.

Trump leads Biden narrowly in Georgia as general election comes into focus — CBS News Battleground poll - CBS News

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