MILWAUKEE — "Wisconsin stands against genocide" is the message an activist group hopes voters will send to President Joe Biden by voting “uninstructed” in the upcoming April 2 Democratic primary.

Listen to Wisconsin is a coalition of multigenerational and multi-faith Wisconsinites who want to use the ballot box to call for a permanent cease-fire with the goal of lasting peace in Gaza.

What You Need To Know

  • Listen to Wisconsin hopes to convince 20,000 Wisconsinites to vote “uninstructed” in next week’s Democratic primary instead of voting for Joe Biden or Dean Phillips

  • That figure is roughly the margin Biden won the state by in 2020 to show the president’s reelection campaign it can't win the battleground state without the coalition’s support

  • The effort is part of a broader plan to pressure the president to secure a permanent cease-fire that leads to peace in Gaza

In recent weeks, the group has organized events around the state, including in La Crosse, Madison and Milwaukee.

“It isn’t that we’ve moved away from the Democratic Party,” Kyle Johnson of Black Leaders Organizing for Communities explained during a rally earlier this month in Milwaukee. “It’s that the party has abandoned those very ideals that united us, and the party has moved away from us.”

Organizers hope to get 20,000 Wisconsin voters to fill in the “uninstructed delegation” bubble on their ballot during next week’s spring election. The number is roughly the margin President Biden won the state by in 2020.

The goal is to show Biden's campaign that it can’t win battleground Wisconsin without them.

“We were inspired by the momentum in Michigan with the Michigan uncommitted campaign,” Halah Ahmad, with Listen to Wisconsin, said. “We were inspired by the momentum in Minnesota. We were inspired by the momentum in Washington. We’re inspired because we’ve had limited opportunity to feel heard as voters, as Wisconsin voters of conscience.”

It will take 15% of the vote in the Badger State for the group to get delegates at the Democratic National Convention in August.

20 Wisconsin State Electeds Launch Endorsement Letter for “Uninstructed” in the April 2 Democratic Primary by Anthony DaBruzzi on Scribd

Some state lawmakers, including Sen. Chris Larson, Rep. Kristina Shelton, Rep. Francesca Hong, Rep. Darrin Madison and Rep. Ryan Clancy, have all put their names behind the push.

“This is not some abstract conflict between other peoples and other places, but that we as Americans are actively responsible for it,” Clancy said. “It is our political permission that Netanyahu needs. It is our dollars that he is doing it with. And as Americans banding together, we can end this, and we may be the only ones who can end this.”

Meanwhile, the Biden campaign stressed the president’s ongoing efforts to secure a cease-fire.

"The president believes making your voice heard and participating in our democracy is fundamental to who we are as Americans,” Lauren Hitt, a campaign spokesperson, said in a statement. “He shares the goal for an end to the violence and a just, lasting peace in the Middle East. He's working tirelessly to that end.”

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