Most of New Jersey’s “disengaged” votes for Biden’s protest came from outside South Jersey

New Jersey Democrats who voted “uncommitted” in the protest against President Joe Biden mostly lived in north and central Jersey.

As of Wednesday afternoon, after 90% of the votes had been counted, there were 41,461 “uncommitted” votes, according to the Associated Press. This number was almost 8% of the expected turnout. Supporters hoped to reach a total of 50,000 votes. Biden won the Democratic primary with about 80% of the vote.

Of New Jersey’s 21 counties, the highest percentage of “uncommitted” votes was in Passaic County in northeast Jersey, where 18% of voters chose “uncommitted.” Subsequently, approximately 14% of the votes were cast for “uncommitted” in both Hudson and Middlesex counties.

Across South Jersey, the Non-Aligned movement received less than 5% of the vote.

The ballots in most of New Jersey had a “non-aligned” option under the slogan “Justice for Palestine.” A lasting ceasefire now.” In parts of Ocean and Monmouth counties that failed to sign “uncommitted,” organizers asked voters to simply write “uncommitted.”

The effort was part of a nationwide “non-aligned” movement during the primaries as a protest against Biden’s support for Israel in its war in Gaza.

In Pennsylvania, voters could exploit the write-in option to vote “uncommitted.”

Because the state election code only requires counties to count the number of votes cast for individual citizens, it is unclear how many voters entered “uncommitted.” More than 60,000 voters in the Democratic primary took advantage of the opportunity to sign up.