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

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By Iclal Turan

MICHIGAN, US (AA) - US 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 protests 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.

Michigan Representative Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian American serving in Congress, said she was “proud” to vote “uncommitted” in the primary in protest of President Biden’s Gaza policy.

“I was proud today to walk in and pull a Democratic ballot and vote ‘uncommitted.’ We must protect our democracy. We must make sure that our government is about us, about the people,” Tlaib said in a video posted by the Listen to Michigan campaign.

Farah Khan, a 47-year-old Pakistani American who is an IT professional from Northville, Michigan and has been participating in the "Abandon Biden" campaign actively, said she did not vote for Biden, adding that her message is "anything but Biden."

"We are abandoning Biden because of his policies, because he abandoned his people. He abandoned Michigan. He abandoned Muslims. He abandoned the minorities," she told Anadolu in front of Miller Elementary School in Dearborn.

"He took our vote…And now he just turned around and stabbed us in the back," she said. "And he's not listening to us. And he's not calling for a cease-fire (in Gaza). So we are abandoning him just like he abandoned us."

Accusing Biden of crossing the red lines of Muslims, she said: "So we are not going to support Biden no matter what. Not now, not in November."

Speaking to Anadolu after voting at Maples Elementary School in Dearborn, Rima Chabbani, 54, an Arab American from southern Lebanon, said she voted "uncommitted" to support the women and children of Palestine.

"Innocent people are being killed every single day," she said, adding that hundreds of others are facing hunger.

"Hopefully, all our Arab community here in Michigan will be heard," she added.

Speaking to Anadolu after voting at 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 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 that 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 ally and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley.