Primary voters in N.H. urged to write in ‘cease-fire’
Intended to send message to Biden
CONCORD, N.H. – Another write-in effort has emerged in New Hampshire. It’s called Vote Ceasefire, and its organizers are encouraging voters to write in “cease-fire” on their ballots when they vote for a presidential candidate on primary day.
The goal is to “draw attention to the urgent need to stop the violence in Palestine and the Middle East,” according to a press advisory issued by the campaign.
The progressive effort is designed as a way for voters to show their dissatisfaction with President Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war, as casualties from the conflict have continued to grow.
The campaign, which organizers describe as an informal group of concerned citizens, points to the more than 24,000 people in Gaza who have been killed since Oct. 7, when Hamas attacked Israel, killing about 1,200 people, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “turn Gaza into a deserted island“in response. The organizers of the write-in effort said they want to use New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary to push politicians to act.
“We have tried to make our voices heard in Washington. We have been ignored,” said Morgan Brown, a community organizer who spoke about the efforts during a press conference Wednesday.
“The problem is the Democratic Party only cares about their votes, and that’s why we need to take this to the polls,” she said. “But what I want on my ballot simply is not there. I want a cease-fire.”
Former state executive councilor Andru Volinsky is also supporting the effort, after writing a letter published by the Concord Monitor last month proposing the idea. “I hope a few fellow dreamers will share this letter with their friends and join me by writing ‘cease fire’ on their ballots,” he wrote in December.
The campaign’s ambitions have grown since then, although organizers declined to say what kind of numbers would constitute a success on primary day.
The campaign has already reached “many thousands” of people, according to campaign organizer Rachel Rybaczuk.
The organizers are working to gain visibility in the week ahead of the Jan. 23 primary, encouraging people to share information by email and on social media; print and distribute posters, flyers, and lawn signs; and recruit volunteers. A few dozen people are currently involved, according to Bill Maddocks, a board member at NH Peace Action and Carsey Fellow at the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire. He noted that the campaign’s ambitions extend beyond New Hampshire.
“We are the first in the nation to write in cease-fire, but we’re not going to be the last,” he said.
In interviews with the Globe, young voters highlighted their dissatisfaction with the candidates they have to choose from in this election. Some noted their disapproval with Biden’s support of Israel in the conflict. And New Hampshire students have said college campuses have been more focused on the conflict in the Middle East on campus than the upcoming presidential primary.
However, recent polling showed a strong plurality of New Hampshire voters supported Israel and Biden in the war efforts against Hamas, according to a Suffolk University/Boston
Globe/USA Today poll. Around 45 percent of likely voters surveyed said they found Biden’s level of support for Israel to be “about right.”
More than 48 percent of likely New Hampshire voters said they sympathize more with Israel, while around 16 percent said they sympathize more with Palestinians in the conflict. And 15 percent said they feel similarly toward both groups.
Biden will not appear on the Democratic ballot, after he backed a change in the primary calendar that moved New Hampshire after South Carolina. A write in campaign has been launched encouraging voters to support Biden by writing in his name.
‘We are the first in the nation to write in cease-fire, but we’re not going to be the last.’
BILL MADDOCKS, board member of NH Peace action