Uncommitted National Movement voters from Michigan and Minnesota traveled to Chicago to join the March on the DNC today, two left-wing movements merging in the Midwest.
The Uncommitted National Movement asked Democratic primary voters to vote “uncommitted” instead of for President Joe Biden in protest of his support for Israel. The March is a pro-Palestine demonstration that kicked off today near the Democratic National Convention.
The two crusades have similar goals but different plans of action: Uncommitted harnessed electoral power to pick up 29 delegates who are attending the DNC this week. The group also spoke with Vice President Kamala Harris and will sit on a panel at the Convention.
The March is a traditional protest: Today, 15,000 protestors, from the March and Uncommitted, gathered in Chicago’s Union Park and walked toward the United Center, where the Convention is being held. Protestors chanted criticisms of Biden, Harris, and Israeli military forces and were supported by a coalition of over 250 social justice organizations.
The packed march began on Washington Avenue and made several turns before reaching the security perimeter of the Convention. There, demonstrators chanted loudly—repeating common refrains like “Free, free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea”—attempting to by heard by Democratic luminaries inside the United Center.
Uncommitted voters joined the action, holding signs for the movement’s “Not Another Bomb” campaign. They told the Daily Dot the March is a second avenue to support Palestine and push the Democratic party to do the same.
“The genocide of people is very important to me because it happened to my family too,” Violet Powless, a Native American college student who voted “uncommitted” with Listen to Michigan in February, said to the Daily Dot. Listen to Michigan is the original voting campaign that launched the Uncommitted National Movement.
Powless also said that she protested the Republican National Convention in July with March on the RNC. She no longer identifies as a member of either the Republican or Democratic parties and considers herself a socialist.
“No matter which side of the party line you cross, they’re both being funded by genocide, by weapons manufacturers,” Powless told the Daily Dot. “They’re both complicit, no matter which side that you choose.”
Donna Goodlaxson and Bob Brose, Uncommitted voters who voted with Uncommitted MN in Minnesota, told the Daily Dot they felt similarly—and planned to vote third party in the general election.
“We are not voting Republican or Democrat,” Goodlaxson told the Daily Dot. “I recognize that’s a form of privilege… [which] allows us to use that privilege to make that statement. We need more than a two party system.”
She said the two plan to vote for a third-party candidate. Third-party candidates in the presidential election this year include Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Libertarian nominee Chase Oliver, and Green Party nominee Jill Stein.
Brose told the Daily Dot he feels his vote “doesn’t matter” in Minnesota, which has voted reliably blue for almost the last 50 years.
“[Voting] matters in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and a couple other states,” Brose said. “We can vote for whoever we want—we don’t even have to care about it.”
Despite what its individual voters may feel, the Uncommitted National Movement doesn’t take an apathetic stance on the general election: They want Harris to earn their vote by calling for an end to U.S. aid to Israel—and then have their voting bloc help propel her to victory.
“We urge you to be on the right side of history. Embrace the voices of people engaged in the political process, the voices of justice, and the voices of peace,” Uncommitted said in its petition to Harris, which has almost 70,000 signatures. “Let your administration reflect our nation’s highest ideals and our unwavering commitment to a future where every human being can live in dignity and safety.”
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