1,500 People Vote For Gaza 'Ceasefire' In New Hampshire

Just under 1,500 New Hampshire voters used Tuesdays Democratic presidential primary to call for a stop to Israels invasion of Gaza by writing in the word ceasefire as if it were a candidate.

In total, exactly 1,497 New Hampshirites wrote in ceasefire, according to the office of New Hampshires secretary of state. The figure represents 1.2% of the total votes cast in the Granite States Democratic primary, and 1.7% of the total write-in votes.

The organizers of Vote Ceasefire   the name of the grassroots initiative to get Democratic primary voters to write in ceasefire nonetheless declared the outcome a success, given the under-resourced and last-minute nature of the campaign.

Whether it be our marches, calls to elected leaders, or protests, President [Joe] Biden has not paid attention to the voices of tens of thousands of Americans who want a ceasefire, Bill Maddocks, a Vote Ceasefire organizer and an activist with the group New Hampshire Peace Action, said in a statement Thursday. So we used something we know he must pay attention toour votes.

Vote Ceasefire came together in a few weeks time after progressive attorney Andru Volinsky, a former member of the states Executive Council, wrote a letter to the Concord Monitor in December announcing his plans to write in cease fire as a protest against Bidens unconditional support for Israels war.

Volinsky made clear that although he supports the presidents reelection, he wants Biden to pressure Israel to end its hostilities in Gaza. Like many other critics of the war, Volinsky has said that he was appalled by the Palestinian group Hamas deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel, but he sees Israels response to that attack as excessive. The Israeli invasion has killed more than 25,000 Palestinians , the majority of whom were women and children, according to Gazas Health Ministry.

My concern is with Israels annihilation of Palestinians in Gaza and this administrations support of that misguided and monstrous effort, Volinsky wrote in his mid-December letter.

Vote Ceasefire relied on the personal funds of top organizers to pay for yard signs encouraging the write-in vote. 

The campaign took place in the context of a highly unusual Democratic primary in New Hampshire. In keeping with the Democratic National Committees decision to punish the Granite State for defying a change in the presidential primary schedule that would end New Hampshires first-in-the-nation primary status, Biden chose not to compete there and was not on the ballot.

Since the contest proceeded in spite of Bidens boycott, local Democrats and some high-dollar donors teamed up to encourage New Hampshire voters to write in his name.

Biden received 64% of the total votes cast on the Democratic side. U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), a primary challenger whose name appeared on the ballot, received 20%, and self-help author Marianne Williamson received 4% of the vote.