Voters send message to Biden: “You have let us down deeply.”
LOUISVILLE — With Kentucky’s Primary Election quickly approaching, a local group is joining a nationwide movement to encourage voters to choose “uncommitted” on their ballots to send a message to the Democratic Party.
Following several other states making a statement this primary season, local anti-war collective Uncomitted Kentucky is looking to garner enough votes on May 21 to secure an uncommitted delegate at the Democratic National Convention.
Twenty-seven uncommitted delegates are being sent to the convention as of May 14, compiled of votes from Michigan (2), Massachusetts (1), Minnesota (11), Hawaii (7), Washington (2), Missouri (3) and Rhode Island (1), according to the Associated Press.
Uncommitted Kentucky stated in an online petition that voting uncommitted was not their first choice but what they’ve felt Joe Biden and the Democratic Party have cornered them into.
“They failed us and it’s now in our hands to do it”
The group is an offshoot of the Louisville Coalition for a Ceasefire, a group formed to call for a permanent ceasefire in Palestine and an end to military aid to Israel, according to the group’s social media.
Palestinian American and coalition member Dr. Lina Yassine was integral to forming Uncommitted Kentucky and has been engaging with Kentucky’s Muslim and Arab communities.
“I've called the White House line repeatedly over the last six months. I've called congressmen. I've called senators. I've sent emails. We've had large protests, the largest protests for the Palestinian cause in the history…And it really has not changed, unfortunately, the policy of the administration,” Yassine said.
Not only has the Biden administration ignored requests to stop sending money to Israel and providing weaponry, but Yassine said it’s dehumanizing and disappointing to watch the United States stand alone at the United Nations, vetoing ceasefire resolutions.
“I felt this is a way to send him a strong message that although we, as Democratic constituents, are registered as Democrats and that the expectation is for us to vote for you both in the primary and the general election, we will not be voting for you because you have let us down deeply,” Yassine said.
Like herself, Yassine has found that many Muslims and Arabs have lost faith that Biden’s administration will listen to their concerns regarding the support of Israel’s military regime and disregard for Palestinian lives.
With Biden and Donald Trump as the foremost presidential candidates for Democrats and Republicans in the primary election, Yassine found that the community’s collective sentiment was not voting at all.
“They've dealt with significant trauma with the Trump Administration on the travel bans for Syrians, and so they felt both [candidates] have been very unjust to the Arab/Muslim population here,” Yassine said.
Prior to the voter registration deadline on April 22, Yassine said that the main focus of the uncommitted campaign was educating the population on the importance of voting and encouraging them to register to vote.
Now, Uncommitted Kentucky has been reaching out to Kentucky Muslims and Arabs through community social media channels to educate them on the group’s campaign. Overall, Yassine said that the response has been positive.
“This was very encouraging for them. I felt a lot of enthusiasm in voting uncommitted because they still feel this is their constitutional right, and they want to express it in a way that relates to how they're feeling,” she said.
In addition to spreading their message within the Muslim and Arab communities, Yassine said other Uncommitted Kentucky members are focused on reaching various groups throughout the state.
While Uncommitted Kentucky is hopeful that its message will have an impact, Yassine pointed out that it is only a small part of the collective movement toward Palestinian liberation; university protests, phone banking, demonstrations, boycotting and divesting are all needed to tackle liberation from every direction.
“And so it's back to the people to take it upon them to do this work now, because we have been failed. They failed us and it's now in our hands to do it,” Yassine said.
