CHICAGO — Wisconsin’s ‘uninstructed’ voters aren’t letting up the pressure on Democrats after President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign last month.
More than 100 Wisconsinites were among the thousands of people who gathered outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago to protest the Biden administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas War, according to estimates from Listen to Wisconsin.
Listen to Wisconsin helped organize the state’s uninstructed movement ahead of the April primary. In that election, more than 48,000 Democratic voters opted for ‘uninstructed delegation’ over voting for Biden.
Now, the group is collecting signatures to show Vice President Kamala Harris just how many votes she stands to lose in the battleground state if she doesn’t change how Democrats are dealing with Israel.
“Harris, I think, has the opportunity really to chart a different path, but I think she really needs to differentiate herself from the Biden administration and needs to do that very quickly,” said Listen to Wisconsin spokesperson Halah Ahmad.
Watch: At DNC, Wisconsin's 'uninstructed' voters call for ceasefire
Protestors are calling for a permanent ceasefire and restrictions on U.S. weapons shipments to Israel. Until Harris commits to those goals, Ahmad says she and many others who voted ‘uninstructed’ in April won’t vote for the vice president in November.
“For me as a Palestinian, it is difficult to swallow having to choose between bans on Muslims, for example, or bans on reproductive freedom, or bombs on Gaza, which this administration has continued,” she said.
Inside the walls of the convention, ceasefire delegates like Wisconsin’s Wajiha Akhtar are also calling for change.
“My communities back home in Madison and in Wisconsin in general are hurting, and this is a great way for us to continuously put pressure on our current administration and Kamala Harris and how her policy agenda will shape up,” she said.
Akhtar and other ceasefire delegates have pledged support for the same goals of a permanent ceasefire and arms embargo, but she says she’s still planning to support Harris come November.
“It’s important that I rally with folks that have the same values as I, especially when it comes to so many issues that I’m passionate about,” Akhtar said. “But I think that for us the fight against authoritarianism nationally is the same fight we need to do internationally as well.”
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