Michigan voters head to polls for primary as Biden faces protest for Gaza policy

By Iclal Turan

MICHIGAN (AA) - President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are expected to easily win their primary contests in the state of Michigan when polls close at 8 p.m. local time Tuesday.

According to Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who was cited by media outlets, there was a record turnout in early voting.

A total of 78,093 residents voted in person at early voting sites and 934,478 turned in absentee ballots to their local clerk's offices at the end of early voting Monday, said CBS Detroit, citing Benson.

Benson expects thousands more to vote at the polls, it said.

Biden is facing protest from critics for his handling of Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip, with many Arab and Muslim Americans, as well as progressive Democrats in Michigan, vowing to vote “uncommitted” in protest of his administration’s policy.

Speaking to Anadolu after voting at the William Ford Elementary School in Dearborn, where more than half of the population is Arab and Muslim, Abdou Mahmoud, 54, said he voted “uncommitted,” and his message is “cease-fire in Gaza.”

He said it is a concern for everybody, adding that he wants a cease-fire “immediately.”

Mahmoud noted that almost 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza and many others are suffering without food and water.

“That's terrible,” he said.

Ahmad Shblak, 45, said he also voted “uncommitted,” and demanded the Biden administration change its policy.

“They have to pay attention to everybody, not just to certain people,” he said.

There are more than 310,000 people of Middle Eastern and North African descent living in Michigan, about 3.1% of the population of this key swing state, according to 2020 census data.

In 2020, Biden defeated Trump in Michigan by a margin of a little more than 150,000 votes, a significant contrast to 2016, when Trump won by less than 11,000 votes against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

Biden, Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota and author Marianne Williamson will be listed as candidates on the Democratic ballot.

The Republican side will include former Trump and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley.