President Biden will not be in the New Hampshire first-in-the-nation primary on Tuesday. Why it matters: After the Democratic National Committee’s messy dispute with New Hampshire legislators, the incumbent president can win the state’s selection with write-in votes.
“That does not mean you can’t vote for him,” former NH Democratic Party chair Kathy Sullivan told Axios. Sullivan helped form a Biden super PAC to win New Hampshire write-in votes for the Democratic frontrunner.
“I and many other Democrats are just trying to get the message out that people in New Hampshire need to go and vote on January 23 and write in Joe Biden’s name on the ballot,” she added.
In early 2023, Democrats adopted the president’s suggested primary timetable to give racially diverse states like South Carolina more say in early races.
After finishing fifth in New Hampshire in 2020, Biden has been pushing the DNC to rearrange its primary schedule so that South Carolina was the first state to compete.
The South Carolina Democratic primary is now Feb. 3.
Lawmakers in revised Hampshire declined to follow the revised DNC primary schedule and give up their desired position as the first in the country for presidential primary elections.
It has also been required by state law to host the nation’s first presidential primary for over a century.
In light of the DNC’s primary in New Hampshire breaking rules, Biden opted not to put his name on the ballot in the Granite State.
How is Biden affected by the move?
In response to New Hampshire’s insistence on holding onto the first primary slot, the DNC likewise declared that it would not be allocating any delegates based on the results of the Jan. 23 poll.
As a write-in candidate, then-President Lyndon Johnson won New Hampshire in 1968, but he later withdrew from the contest.
In the meanwhile, a letter from earlier this month from the co-chairs of the Democratic Party’s Rules and Bylaws Committee encouraged Raymond Buckley, the head of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, “to educate the public that January 23rd is a non-binding presidential preferenceevent and is meaningless.”
Attorney General John Formella of New Hampshire responded by issuing a cease-and-desist order.
Assistant Attorney General Brendan O’Donnell stated in a letter to the DNC that “falsely telling New Hampshire voters that a New Hampshire election is ‘meaningless’ violates New Hampshire voter suppression laws.”
Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) and self-help author Marianne Williamson are two more Democratic candidates who have submitted the necessary papers to be listed on the ballot. According to AP, a total of 21 Democrats—aside from Biden—will be on the ballot on Tuesday.