When Philadelphia voters considered presidential candidates in April's Pennsylvania primary, thousands chose someone other than the name on their ballot, according to City Commissioners data. Some Democratic voters wrote in with names outside of politics, including Phillies slugger Bryce Harper, pop star Britney Spears and former Eagle Jason Kelce. Meanwhile, some Republican voters also wrote in, including Kelce, actor and wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and Sixers star Joel Embiid.
But it wasn't just the names that were notable, but the numbers as well. In Philadelphia, 400 Republican voters chose write-in during the primary, while more than 16,000 Democrats chose write-in, according to the data.
Mustafa Rashid, a Democratic political consultant and president and CEO of Bellevue Strategies, told NBC10: “We can see there is cause for concern with Democratic operatives and President Biden's reelection.'' Told. “I think there's plenty of time to try and get things back on track to get things going better, but at the same time I'm very concerned that 16,000 people may have been stuck at home that day. They could have sat on their couches or protested on social media, but they chose to take action that requires an investment of time. And I think that says a lot. ”
The number of Democratic votes represented nearly 10% of the total votes cast in Philadelphia during the Pennsylvania primary. This number is six times the amount of write-ins made by Democratic voters in Philadelphia during the 2020 primary.
The new numbers come amid a campaign urging Democrats to write “no commitment” instead of voting for Biden because of the president's response to the Israel-Hamas war. NBC10 spoke with Mount Airy's Tia Carioli during President Biden's appearance in North Philadelphia in April. Carioli said he wrote a letter to the president during the primary campaign that was “irresponsible.”
“We want a ceasefire,” she said. “A permanent ceasefire. An immediate ceasefire in Gaza.”
Elections are simply a matter of counting votes for people's names. This means that uncommitted votes and votes for sports mascots were listed as “invalid”. According to the data, there were 14,624 “invalid” Democratic votes in the 2024 Pennsylvania primary.
The data also shows that 416 Philadelphia Democrats wrote about Donald Trump, while 95 Philadelphia Republicans wrote about President Biden.
A spokesperson for the Biden campaign sent a statement to NBC10 in response to the number of posts.
“This election is about a Joe Biden who protects our health care, fights for the middle class, and stands up to threats to our democracy, or a Donald who overturns Roe v. Wade and repeals the Affordable Care Act. Trump will raise prices for Pennsylvania families to line the pockets of his wealthy friends,” the spokesperson wrote. “Pennsylvanians will once again cede the presidency to Joe Biden this November.”