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"Uncommitted" is a voting option in some United States presidential primaries. This option is listed along with the names of individuals running for the position and is often described as "none of the above".[1] Depending on state and party thresholds, voting uncommitted may allow states to send uncommitted delegates to a party's nominating convention.[2]
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In the United States, voting in a presidential primary instructs party delegates who to vote for in the nominating convention. By voting uncommitted, you simply do not give an instruction to your delegates.[3] Under Democratic National Committee rules, uncommitted receives delegates if the option receives more than 15% of the statewide vote or more than 15% of the vote in a congressional district.[4] Under Republican National Committee rules, the local rules of state Republican parties decides how and if uncommitted receives delegates.[5]
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1984: Hawaii
After only Walter Mondale and Jesse Jackson made the ballot for the Hawaii Democratic caucus in 1984, Presidential candidate Gary Hart and Hawaii governor George Ariyoshi urged voters to vote uncommitted.[6] Uncommitted ended up winning the caucus with 63.5% of the vote, receiving 14 delegates. Mondale received 32.3% of the vote and 5 delegates. Jackson received 4.2% of the vote.[7]
2008: Michigan
Federal Democratic Party rules prohibit any state, except for Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina from holding its primary before February 5, or Super Tuesday. In October 2007, the divided Michigan Legislature passed a bill to move the date of the state's presidential primaries to January 15 in an effort to increase the state's influence in the presidential candidate nominating process.[8] On October 9, 2007, following Michigan's breach of DNC rules, Barack Obama, Bill Richardson, Joe Biden, and John Edwards withdrew from the Michigan Democratic Primary ballot.[9] Dennis Kucinich unsuccessfully sought to remove his name from the ballot.[10] Hillary Clinton and Christopher Dodd decided to remain on the ballot.[11]
On December 10, 2007, the Michigan Democratic Party issued a press release stating that the primary would be held on January 15, 2008. The press release also urged supporters of Biden, Edwards, Obama and Richardson to vote "uncommitted" instead of writing in their preferred candidates' names.[12]
In the end, Hillary Clinton received 54.61% of the vote (328,309 votes), uncommitted received 39.61% of the vote (238,168 votes), while other candidates received 5.78% of the vote (34,742 votes).[13]
2024: Michigan, Minnesota, Washington, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Missouri, Rhode Island, New Jersey and Kentucky
During the 2024 Michigan Democratic presidential primary, 2024 Minnesota Democratic presidential primary and 2024 Washington Democratic presidential primary, numerous activists and elected officials, including Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud and House Representative Rashida Tlaib, campaigned for voters to select the uncommitted option in protest of Biden's handling of the Israel–Hamas war.[14][15] Some Armenian Americans also suggested voting uncommitted over Biden's actions involving the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh.[16] In Washington, the state's largest labor union, the United Food and Commercial Workers, endorsed uncommitted.[17]
In response, the advocacy group Democratic Majority for Israel ran ads arguing that voting "uncommitted" would weaken Biden and support Donald Trump.[18] Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer stated that although she acknowledges the "pain" people feel about the war, she still encouraged people to vote for Biden because "any vote that's not cast for Joe Biden supports a second Trump term".[19]
In the end, in Michigan, Joe Biden received 81.1% of the vote (618,426 votes), uncommitted received 13.3% of the vote (101,100 votes), while other candidates received 5.7% of the vote (43,171 votes).[20] The uncommitted share exceeded that against Barack Obama in 2012, the most recent prior re-election campaign of a Democratic president (though in 2012 it was a caucus rather than a primary).[21] In Minnesota, uncommitted received an even larger share of the vote, at 18.9%, while Biden was cut short to 70.6%.[22]
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The following lists presidential primaries since 2008 where uncommitted received more than 5% of the popular vote:
2008
| Primary | Primary winner | Votes | Percentage of popular vote | Uncommitted Delegates | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan Democratic primary | Hillary Clinton | 238,168 | 39.61% | 0 | [23] |
| U.S. Virgin Islands Republican caucus | John McCain | 153 | 47.2% | 6 | [24] |
| Kentucky Republican primary | 10,755 | 5.44% | 0 | [25] | |
| Idaho Republican primary | 8,325 | 6.63% | 1 | [26] |
2012
| Primary | Primary winner | Votes | Percentage of popular vote | Uncommitted Delegates | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan Democratic primary | Barack Obama | 20,833 | 10.69% | 20 | [27] |
| Massachusetts Democratic primary | 16,075 | 10.87% | 26 | [28][29] | |
| Tennessee Democratic primary | 10,497 | 11.51% | 9 | [30] | |
| Alabama Democratic primary | 45,613 | 15.91% | 8 | [31] | |
| Maryland Democratic primary | 37,704 | 11.55% | 3 | [32] | |
| Rhode Island Democratic primary | 1,133 | 13.98% | 8 | [33] | |
| North Carolina Democratic primary | 200,810 | 20.77% | 43 | [34] | |
| Kentucky Democratic primary | 86,925 | 42.15% | 34 | [35] | |
| Montana Democratic primary | 8,306 | 9.46% | 7 | [36] | |
| U.S. Virgin Islands Republican caucus | Ron Paul | 132 | 33.85% | 0 | [37] |
| North Carolina Republican primary | Mitt Romney | 50,928 | 5.23% | 0 | [38] |
| Kentucky Republican primary | 10,357 | 5.88% | 0 | [35] | |
| South Dakota Republican primary | 2,797 | 5.43% | 0 | [39] |
2016
| Primary | Primary winner | Votes | Percentage of popular vote | Uncommitted Delegates | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Virgin Islands Republican caucus | Ted Cruz | 1,063 | 65.3% | 1 | [40] |
| Northern Mariana Islands Democratic caucus | Hillary Clinton | 22 | 11.64% | 0 | [41] |
| Kentucky Democratic primary | 24,104 | 5.30% | 0 | [42] |
2020
| Primary | Primary winner | Votes | Percentage of popular vote | Uncommitted Delegates | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kentucky Democratic primary | Joe Biden | 58,364 | 10.85% | 2 | [43] |
| Montana Republican primary | Donald Trump | 13,184 | 6.18% | 0 | [44] |
| New Mexico Republican primary | 13,809 | 8.75% | 0 | [45] | |
| Kentucky Republican primary | 57,283 | 13.35% | 0 | [46] | |
| Connecticut Republican primary | 12,994 | 14.21% | 0 | [47] |
2024
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As of 2024, the following jurisdictions have uncommitted presidential nominating contest voting options:
- Alabama[69]
- American Samoa[70]
- Colorado (Democratic primary only, as Noncommitted Delegate)[71]
- Democrats Abroad (Democratic primary only)[72]
- Connecticut[73]
- Hawaii (Democratic caucuses only)[74]
- Idaho (Democratic caucuses only)[75]
- Iowa (Democratic party-run primary only)[76]
- Kansas (as None of the names shown)[77]
- Kentucky[78]
- Maryland[73]
- Massachusetts (as No Preference)[79]
- Michigan[73]
- Minnesota (Democratic primary only)[80]
- Missouri[81]
- Montana (as No Preference)[82]
- Nevada (as None of these candidates)[83]
- New Jersey (Democratic primary only)[84]
- New Mexico (as Uncommitted delegate)[85]
- North Carolina (as No Preference)[73]
- Rhode Island[86]
- Tennessee[87]
- Texas (Republican primary only)[88]
- U.S. Virgin Islands[73]
- Washington (Democratic primary only)[89]
- Wisconsin (as Uninstructed Delegation)[90]
- Wyoming (as Undeclared)[73]
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