These Democrats refuse to vote for Harris. They could cost her everything.

In October last year, Mohamed Almawri joined the grassroots movement “Listen to Michigan” to demand an arms embargo and a permanent ceasefire in Gaza from the Biden administration. As a Yemeni American, he was once fairly politically inactive. But when “Listen to Michigan” and similar appeals failed to bring about significant change — even after a glimmer of hope when Kamala Harris took the Democratic nomination — he decided to become part of a bloc of Arab voters and cast a “conscience vote” in Michigan. For him, that means voting for Jill Stein.

“We will make history as a Muslim community standing against a U.S.-sponsored genocide,” Almawri told me. “We are holding this administration accountable,” he said, echoing many voters who see Harris' stance on Israel as merely an extension of Joe Biden's stance. (Harris has called for a ceasefire tied to the release of hostages, but has not committed to ending U.S. aid to the war.)

We now know that Jill Stein was ultimately not the spoiler that sank Hillary Clinton in the swing states in 2016. But this year there is reason to believe that the small but significant group of protest voters in states like Michigan, which are currently as close as possible in polls, could have a real impact on the election results.

And if this protest leads to Donald Trump becoming president again? Almawri, like many others I've spoken to, says he's okay with that.

“The value of defeating the Democratic Party makes Trump a price we are willing to pay,” he said, quoting an imam from a recent sermon in Dearborn, where rallies and religious sermons have encouraged their congregations to “out to vote for reasons of conscience.” Like others, he believes that voting for a Democrat would be tantamount to supporting genocide and that supporting Trump if he wins would send a clear message to Democrats. “Both parties are complicit. Trump, Biden – it doesn’t matter. But our vote can still mean something, and we want to make it clear. If the government won’t listen, we can at least vote in a way that forces them to see us.”

Sonia Rosen, a voter in Pennsylvania, told me she felt “mocked” by Harris' stance toward Democratic voters, the majority of whom, polls show, want a permanent ceasefire, while Harris continued to support Israel in expanding its war Lebanon. Her current plan is to vote for Jill Stein. “I cannot support a candidate who promises to kill more Arabs,” she said. “Every day we see average people – children, parents – with blown faces. We watch it unfold. It is painful to watch this day after day. And it is painful to see how people so cavalierly dismiss the lives of Arabs as if we don’t count them.”

She is outraged when other Democrats urge her to view Harris as the lesser of two evils: “It is an impossible task to ask me to vote for someone who is actively contributing to a genocide of people like me , which directly affects friends.” Family. I won’t do that.”

On the possible handover of the White House to Trump, she said: “We had him once, and back then he was terrible.” But I think in the long run, allowing the Democrats to do whatever they want is strategically worse they want, and still vote for them. That’s how we got a Democratic Party that’s so far to the right and supported by Dick Cheney.”

This trend is worrying for Mohammed Maraqa, a Democratic pollster and data scientist who himself will vote for Kamala Harris but has been watching the current situation unfold in real time.

“Many Arab-American and Muslim-American groups turned to the government and the State Department as the conflict worsened, and they really got nowhere,” Maraqa said. “Despite Israel violating U.S. and international law, they refused to back down. And Biden seemed dogmatic and an idealologist when it came to Israel and Zionism.”

Maraqa has been involved in polling among Arab-American groups, including the influential American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, and he says Stein has received broad support. For these voters, she has proven to be a refreshing option, vocally condemning the status quo and supporting measures such as a ceasefire and an arms embargo. During Biden's campaign, he had promised a “new day” for Arab and Muslim Americans and pledged inclusivity and a repeal of the Muslim ban, a message that helped win back battleground states like Michigan in 2020. But as the conflict progressed, Maraqa said: The Biden administration continued to conduct “a daily exercise in gaslighting,” particularly in contentious State Department briefings that regularly go viral among Arab voters.

“It's a lot tighter than 2016 and 2020. So those margins can make a difference in key states like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. (Stein) could really be a spoilsport,” he said.

Reem Abuelhaj, an organizer in Pennsylvania who was involved in the non-binding primary there, wants Democrats to reckon with how painful it is to ask a Palestinian American like her to continue supporting the current administration. “We watch people we love lose family members and live in daily fear. “It feels personal to watch hundreds of thousands of people who look like us, who have names like us, witness this genocide and watch as the U.S. government continues to send our tax dollars to literally kill children,” she said. “We feel cornered.”

She knows several Arab voters who will “hold their noses and vote for Harris to avoid Trump.” But Abuelhaj told me she can't bring herself to do the same. “This campaign is about identifying the impact we have. I am a Palestinian American who has lived in Pennsylvania my entire life. I voted Democrat in every election until this one, when many of us looked around and realized that was the influence we have right now,” she said. “We know that another Trump presidency would be disastrous. But I cannot bring myself to go to the polls and cast my vote for a candidate who is responsible for the deaths of family members and it is clear that he continues to support this genocide.”

In Arizona, another critical state, the stakes have never been higher for Mohyeddin Abdulaziz, a Palestinian-American lawyer and co-founder of the Arizona Palestine Solidarity Alliance. Here, Arab American voters once mobilized in large numbers for Democratic candidates and viewed them as allies, but with the Biden-Harris administration's unwavering support for Israel, their support appears to have completely evaporated.

“There’s this condescending tone,” he told me. “People say, 'You don't understand how dangerous Trump is,' as if we don't know what this is about. But when we watch our tax dollars funding violence abroad, it’s hard for us to just go along with it.”

Earlier this year, Abdulaziz helped mobilize the noncommittal movement in the Democratic primary. “We thought maybe we could nudge them on Palestine,” Abdulaziz explained. But his efforts to engage with the Harris campaign were met with frustrating silence. “We even reached out to Harris' Arizona campaign manager,” he said, “and kept hearing, 'I hear you, I hear you.' But we didn't get anything. No statement, no real commitment. It’s offensive.”

“We are anti-genocide voters,” said Halah Ahmad, a Democratic organizer with Listen to Wisconsin, summing up the collective sentiment of many who remain unconvinced about voting for Harris. She said she viewed her position as a swing state voter as an opportunity to continue to put the spotlight on the suffering in Gaza, emphasizing the urgency of the issue.

Swing-state voters, particularly those with progressive views, see themselves in the final weeks before the election as what they call a “microphone” — a chance to voice their concerns on a national level. “Right now, the microphone is the bigger opportunity for swing-state voters,” Ahmad said. “We use it to demand an anti-war agenda. If Vice President Harris wants our support, she must take actions that reflect that.” Ahmad said there have been heated internal debates about this within her communities and her own family. But for them there is no debate: “Ultimately, it is a genocide we are talking about.” And when you ask people to turn away from that reality, you are asking them to turn away from their values.”

However, Ahmad himself has not yet cast a vote. “I’m holding on to my ballot until the last second,” she said. “Because as long as we have this ballot in our hands, we have a microphone to demand change. This election may not bring about that change overnight, but our voices will heard.”