Thomas Breen photo
At Lincoln Bassett's polling place on Tuesday.
More voters in East Rock’s Ward 9 cast their ballots for “Uncommitted” than for incumbent President Joe Biden in Tuesday’s low-turnout Democratic presidential primary.
Still, Biden handily won the virtually uncontested contest, both in New Haven and across Connecticut — even as a protest option that has become a rallying cry for pro-Palestinian activists notched more than 21 percent of city Democrats’ votes.
On Wednesday, the city’s Registrar of Voters office released a detailed list of election results ward by ward — or, really, since it’s an even-numbered election year, district by district.
A total of 3,539 of the city’s 34,157 registered Democrats voted in Tuesday’s presidential primary, putting turnout in the race at around 10 percent.
Biden secured a total of 2,657 votes, or 75 percent. “Uncommitted” came in second with 749 votes, or 21 percent. That appeared to be the highest “Uncommitted” vote share of any municipality in Connecticut during Tuesday’s Democratic primary.
Statewide, 11.5 percent of Democrats voted “uncommitted” and 84.8 percent for Biden.
The “uncommitted” vote comes as groups active in New Haven like the Democratic Socialists of America, Jewish Voice for Peace Action Connecticut, and various campus organizations like Yalies4Palestine and Owls for Justice in Palestine, have encouraged Democratic voters to back the ballot protest line instead of Biden. In recent weeks, those groups have undertaken a “Vote Uncommitted CT Campaign” under a group called CT Palestine Solidarity Coalition.
At a neighborhood by neighborhood level, the only New Have ward that delivered a majority of votes to “Uncommitted” during Tuesday’s Democratic presidential primary was East Rock’s Ward 9.
Final tally: 72 for “Uncommitted,” 65 for Biden, 3 for Minnesota Congressman Dean Phillips, 0 for self-help guru Marianne Williamson.
Westville’s Ward 25, meanwhile, delivered the highest number of total “Uncommitted” votes of any ward in the city: 103, to 308 for Biden.
In New Haven’s Republican presidential primary, meanwhile, former President Donald Trump won with a total of 194 votes to former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley’s 36. The Republican presidential primary saw a total of 257 votes cast by the city’s 2,842 eligible Republicans, making turnout for that race in New Haven around 9 percent.
Click here or see below for the full results in New Haven’s Democratic and Republican presidential primaries.
Check out the election results from across Connecticut below, as reported by the Associated Press. Click here to see the results as reported by the Secretary of the State’s office. If you’re having trouble seeing the charts and maps below, please refresh your browser page.
There is real dissatisfaction with Biden. But the tiny number of votes for alternatives, at the city and state levels, is telling.