NEW YORK – A grassroots movement in New Hampshire called on voters to write “ceasefire” for president on their ballots in the Democratic primary on Tuesday instead of Joe Biden, whose name did not appear on the ballot.The group, called Vote Ceasefire, announced its campaign a week before the first-in-the-nation primary, in which Democratic groups extensively rallied voters to fill in Joe Biden’s name.
The omission of the president’s name on the ballot is due to a conflict between New Hampshire and the Democratic National Committee over the scheduling of the state’s primary.
In October, New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley released a statement acknowledging Biden’s absence from the ballot.
“The reality is that Joe Biden will win the New Hampshire First-in-the-Nation Primary in January, win renomination in Chicago, and be reelected next November. New Hampshire voters know and trust Joe Biden; that’s why he is leading Trump in New Hampshire by double digits,” the statement said.
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Despite Biden’s name not appearing on the ballot, state Democratic leaders launched a campaign encouraging and educating voters about submitting a write-in ballot.
Vote Ceasefire’s campaign also encouraged Democratic voters to show up at the polls.
“We encourage New Hampshire voters to vote ‘Ceasefire’ for president as a write-in candidate on January 23rd, and let President Biden and the Democrats know that we are willing to take a stand for an immediate ceasefire,” according to an Instagram post from the group.
“The Biden Administration shouldn’t count on our votes if we can’t count on them to listen to our voices,” the post said.
Members of Vote Ceasefire held a press conference Monday night where they said there’s been tremendous interest in their campaign.
Molly Brennan is a first-time New Hampshire voter after moving to the state from Chicago in September. Brennan said she heard about Vote Ceasefire last Friday.
“I am a voter who found myself in a quandary. How can I best leverage my position in the first primary in the nation when I am so opposed to the current administration’s stance on the ceasefire?” Brennan said. “Being able to write in ‘ceasefire,’ I’m able to leverage my power in a way that allows me to stand with my values.”
Brennan said that more than a dozen states reached out to Vote Ceasefire to start organizing their write-in campaigns for their primaries.
Chris Balch, who served in New Hampshire’s House of Representatives from 2018 to 2020, said he’s writing ceasefire on the ballot because it’s important to push the administration to listen to the people.
“Our elected officials – they don’t listen to us, and they don’t even make an effort to represent us at all, but they still care about our votes,” Balch said. “And so, on Tuesday, we have an opportunity to make them sit up and make them pay attention. You can reach out to the administration and make a point, but you can also make your vote count for something really special and wonderful. You can make your vote count for peace.”
According to organizers, ballots voting for ceasefire will be counted, though it could take several days to tally the total number of votes.
Organizers encouraged voters writing in ceasefire to self-report on Vote Ceasefire’s website.
The Jerusalem Post reached out to Vote Ceasefire and the New Hampshire Democratic Party for comment.