What Does It Mean To Vote Uninstructed?
Peggy Creer | Published on 3/25/2024
April 2 is the Spring Election and the Presidential Preference Primary. The Presidential Preference Primary is when voters choose one candidate from their preferred political party's list of presidential candidates. The results inform the party when they select their presidential nominee for the Presidential Election in November. You may have heard about voting "uninstructed" this April. What does that mean?
As a voter, you have options. You can vote in whichever party's primary you choose and have the option to vote uninstructed under either party to let the parties know that the choices you have been provided do not align with your personal values or that the parties have not yet built a strong enough case for why their selected candidates should get your vote.
Visit MyVote.Wi.Gov and enter your address to see what's on your ballot. You will see that in each party's section under the names of the candidates and above the write-in line, is the option to mark "uninstructed."
Voting uninstructed (sometimes called things like "uncommitted" in other states) can be used as a tool to send a message to a political party.
Here is a passage from Fulcrum about using the uninstructed vote as a tool: "Voting in this manner represents a refusal by voters to be pigeonholed into a decision that does not align with the voter's convictions. By choosing not to choose, these voters signal that their options are inadequate and their expectations for leadership and representation still need to be met. This practice is not a sign of apathy but rather an active engagement in the political process – a civil protest that is entirely within their rights as Americans."