Biden wins Michigan primary

President Joe Biden is projected to win Michigan's Democratic presidential primary comfortably, despite tens of thousands of protest votes against him.

Activists urged Democrats to vote "uncommitted" rather than cast a ballot for the president because of his stance towards Israel's war in Gaza, reports BBC.

With 32% of the votes counted, more than 40,000 had chosen "uncommitted".

Mr Biden had received 80% of the vote, according to BBC partner CBS News.

In statement that did not reference the campaign against him, Mr Biden thanked "every Michigander who made their voice heard today".

Mr Biden is largely unopposed in the Democratic Party's search for a nominee, meaning he is on course to face off in November's presidential election against Donald Trump - in a rematch of 2020. The former president is also projected to win Tuesday's Republican primary in Michigan.

In remarks given to a celebration event by his team, Mr Trump was quoted saying it had been a "great day" in Michigan. "[W]e're going to win big, and it's going to be like nothing that anybody has ever seen," he added.

The numbers of "uncommitted" voters surpassed the expectations of some of the groups opposing 81-year-old Mr Biden.

Grassroots organisation Listen to Michigan, which was part of the campaign, also hailed the day as a win.

People were in tears at a watch party hosted by the organisation as updated vote tallies were periodically announced.

Congressman Andy Levin who supported the "vote uncommitted"movement told the crowd: "I take no joy in being here tonight. This moment is a child of necessity because people are dying by the thousands."

Michigan is one of a handful of major swing states that each party's nominee will battle for in 2024. Mr Trump won it in 2016, helping propel him to the presidency. But Mr Biden flipped it back in 2020, taking the state by around 150,000 votes.

Tuesday does not mark the first time a significant portion of Michiganders opted to cast votes as "uncommitted". Around 19,000 residents did so in 2020's primary and more than 21,601 did so in 2016. In 2008 it was 238,000 - after Barack Obama's campaign encouraged them to do so, because he chose not to be on the ballot due to party squabbles.

But campaigners in Michigan have been organising for months to send Mr Biden a message of "no ceasefire, no vote" over the war in Gaza. Tuesday's primary was their first chance to send a statement.

The state has the largest proportion of Arab Americans in the country. Nationwide, 64% of Muslim voters backed Mr Biden in 2020, according to the AP News agency.

Frustrated with Mr Biden's backing of Israel during the war, some of his supporters said they had changed their minds.

At Salina Intermediate School in Dearborn - across the railroad tracks from a sprawling Ford factory - the BBC spoke to Hala, 32, who said she voted "uncommitted".

She did not "want to vote for Genocide Joe", she explained - alluding to allegations made against the Israeli military during its campaign in Gaza, which Israel strongly denies.

In her heavily Arab-American community, "vote here" signs were translated in Arabic, as well as the pamphlets volunteers handed out encouraging voters to "Abandon Biden".

Hala - who declined to share her last name for privacy reasons - said she voted for Mr Biden last time, but was was not sure she would do so again when the presidential election came round. "Maybe, if he calls for an immediate ceasefire, but he's not going to do that," she said.

Other Democrats remain supportive of Mr Biden, including Kim Murdough, an office manager at a church in the city of Flint.

/MHK/