Most write-in votes in the Philly Democratic presidential primary weren’t for people. Why that signals success for ‘uncommitted.’

The vast majority of write-in votes cast in the Democratic presidential primary in Philadelphia were marked void, a likely sign of success for a campaign which urged voters to write the word uncommitted as a protest of President Joe Biden’s support of Israel.

Philly election officials indicated last month they would mark “uncommitted” votes as void rather than offer a specific tally for the word. Pennsylvania election law only requires counties to tally write-in votes cast for a person. As a result any write-in votes that listed uncommitted or another nonperson entity like the Phanatic or Gritty could be grouped together by counties as void or scattered.

While it’s unclear exactly what these voters wrote, 14,625 write-in ballots were marked void — making up more than 90% of the 16,216 write-in votes cast in the Democratic contest.

Driven by votes in left-leaning parts of the city, write-in votes made up 10% of the presidential primary vote in Philadelphia.

The proportion of void ballots vastly outpaces the proportion in previous high-profile Democratic primaries. In the 2022 primary for U.S. Senate, just under a third of write-in votes were tallied as void. The uptick can likely be attributed to the uncommitted campaign.

Progressive activists in the Uncommitted PA campaign, which was created by the Democratic Socialists of America, had sought to send a message to Biden in support of cease-fire in Gaza, where more than 35,000 people have been killed in the region since Israel launched its military operation following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.

“We claim every single write-in as an Uncommitted vote, and the vote breakdown in Philadelphia demonstrates our massive impact in the Presidential write-in space,” Uncommitted PA said in a statement

“Uncommitted PA believes that the outcome of the primary election serves as a strong indicator of voter sentiment in the November election. Voters in Pennsylvania feel conflicted about voting for Biden, as demonstrated by the massive write-in totals and undervote for Biden in PA.”

Other write-in choices, however, indicated that some Democratic voters were not motivated by Gaza.

Former President Donald Trump, who is the presumptive Republican nominee, earned more write-ins than any other candidate with 416 votes. He was followed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., with 270 votes, and Cornel West, with 120 votes. Both are mounting independent campaigns.

Some voters also wrote in the names of prominent progressives, including 118 votes for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and 10 for U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Philadelphians showed support for high-profile Pennsylvania Democrats as 10 voted for Gov. Josh Shapiro and six wrote in U.S. Sen. John Fetterman.

A handful of voters also turned towards sports and pop culture for their write-in votes. Four Democratic voters wrote in recently retired Eagles center Jason Kelce, while three tossed their support behind international pop star Taylor Swift, who also happens to be dating Kelce’s younger brother Travis.

In the Republican Presidential Primary 400 write-in votes were recorded. More than a quarter of those votes were marked void.

Biden earned 95 write-in votes from Republicans, followed by former U.S. Rep Liz Cheney — a Republican who voted for Trump’s second impeachment — who received 31 write-in votes. Twenty-nine Republican voters wrote in Robert F. Kennedy, while three wrote in Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Kelce, is going from the Eagles to ESPN, also earned one vote in the GOP primary.