Voting is a deeply personal act. And not voting can be, too.
Across the country, hundreds of thousands of voters chose “uncommitted” in the Democratic presidential primary in opposition to President Joe Biden’s handling of Israel’s military response in Gaza.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says the Israeli military has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians since Oct. 7, 2023. That’s when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking roughly 250 hostages, according to Israeli officials.
In Vermont, there is no “uncommitted” box on the ballot. But in this year’s Democratic presidential primary, more than 1,500 voters left their ballots blank, according to state data.
Though that’s nowhere near enough votes to risk flipping the Green Mountain State red for former President Donald Trump, that number represents nearly five times the number of blank ballots from 2020.
We can’t definitively say why Vermonters left their ballots blank. But Vermont's Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas said it is fair to infer it has something to do with the national "uncommitted" movement.
"You know, in any other year, if you were dissatisfied with either of the choices, you simply stayed home," she said. "And in this year, when there has been a publicized and articulated movement to make that kind of a protest, you know, I would imagine we're seeing more than we would in an ordinary year.”
Vice President Kamala Harris has moved into the top of the Democratic ticket since Vermont’s primary, and as one of the leading progressives in the Senate, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has asked "uncommitted" voters to consider casting a ballot for her.
Sanders told Vermont Public that Harris offers the best chance to help Palestinians, saying, "She’s going to be far more receptive to taking on [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and saying that if you want American money, you're gonna have to treat the Palestinian people with far more respect than is currently the case.”
Still, "uncommitted" voters have continued to express dissatisfaction with Harris, saying she hasn’t separated herself from Biden on Gaza. Harris has said she believes in Israel’s right to defend itself, and that she’s committed to expanding humanitarian aid to Gaza, while working toward a two-state solution.
Harris has not directly answered if she would support continuing to send U.S. military aid to Israel if she won the presidency — a key demand from "uncommitted" voters.
News producer Adiah Gholston attended a conference in Burlington centered on building support for Palestinians to see how "uncommitted" voters in Vermont are thinking about the race for president in the lead-up to Election Day. Olivia Plunkett, Judith Sargent and Indi Schoenherr shared their views.
This interview was produced for the ear. We highly recommend listening to the audio. We’ve also provided a transcript, which has been edited for length and clarity.
Olivia Plunkett: I refuse to put my vote behind someone who is funding, making possible the genocide that's happening in Palestine. I've grown over the past year to really understand that the two-party system, this so-called democracy that we live in, isn't what we think it is. I've really come to terms with the fact that voting is just a choice. It's only one of the many, many, many things that we can do in order to have our voices be heard, to organize and fight for the things that we care about. At this point in time, there's no one who is showing me that they care, or are willing to hear what folks in this country are asking them to do — which in this case is really, really simple.
Judith Sargent: I'm in a large community in Vermont that are "anyone but Trump" — but to not have anyone say who the other candidate was, and then to have this candidate, who any of us, in a few minutes, could easily do a quick search, and find 20 different quotes from Kamala about how she will continue the U.S. policy toward Palestine right now, that the U.S. will support Israel all the way. That's totally clear. So, caring about the lives of people being slaughtered. I find it absolutely impossible to vote which would, sort of, be an affirmation that we approve of the current government policy and the continuation of it with Kamala.
Indi Schoenherr: I worked closely within legislative policy and to hear time and time again, of such horrible policy, being told that, "It's not bad," "It could be worse," was so frustrating to come up against. Especially when contending with the very things that we are justifying, the very policy initiatives that we are putting forward to further criminalize people trying to survive, or the very things that are upholding the genocide that's happening. It’s just hard to disconnect, to separate.
And I think so much about the Palestinian struggle and the Palestinian people as being people who have had their rights revoked in such a way, we don’t question, it’s like normalized. What we allow to happen there— will happen to us, and is happening to us. It may not be as brutal or violent — and it's every moment — but that denial of rights, not questioning the denial of rights, I think, is the thing that will ultimately strip us of our ability to to move, to be, to thrive.
Olivia Plunkett: When someone is really opposed to or gets fired up about my choice not to vote, or my choice not to vote for Democratic Party, I've been more recently inviting folks to think about, what are they afraid of. When we can get down to it, they're afraid that their privilege is going to be compromised were Trump to come into office. Like no worse things can happen in Palestine. If someone were to say, "You have to vote for Kamala or else bad things are gonna happen in Palestine." Like, it doesn't get any worse than this.
Judith Sargent: I mean, I would love to have seen Jill Stein on the ballot. She's not. Here in Vermont, we have the luxury of making that kind of choice, because for sure, the state's going to vote for Kamala. We're not going to wake up mid-November and decide that we've all become Republicans. You know, it's going to go that way. I think we need to take advantage of that luxurious position we're in to help strengthen a third party. Just to start building toward having an alternative future and not passing on the same situation that we are all stuck in now to our children and grandchildren.
Indi Schoenherr: We are living in a white man's imagination right now, and we don't have to continue to, that does not have to be our reality. And I want us to sit in curiosity of what it takes to dream of new worlds and new ways of being — for ourselves and our communities. Not just like sitting in curiosity, but allowing for that curiosity to move us.
This story is part of Vermont Public’s Citizens Agenda approach to election coverage. We’re asking a simple question: What do you want the candidates to be discussing as they compete for your votes? Front Porch Forum is our lead outreach partner for this project.
How to vote in the general election
Eligible voters can register anytime up to and on Election Day, Nov. 5.
You can register online, in-person at your town clerk’s office, or on Election Day at your polling place.
Voting
If you received a ballot in the mail, you can return it by mail or take it to your town’s dropbox.
You can also vote early, in-person at your town clerk’s office or on Election Day at your polling place.
If you get a mail-in ballot but plan to vote in person, bring the ballot with you to your polling place.
Learn more
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Get more information about the voting process in Vermont Public’s general election guide, and learn about who’s running in our candidate questionnaire.
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