Fake robocalls, push for Biden write-in: What’s happening with Dems in NH

Voters will cast their ballots in the nation’s first primary of the 2024 presidential election on Tuesday, Jan. 23. However, Democrat incumbent President Joe Biden will not be on the ballot. Twenty-one other Democratic candidates will be present, but there are zero delegates up for grabs due to the Democratic National Committee’s new rules for 2024.

The DNC, under pressure from Biden, declared South Carolina would be the first official primary for Democrats. However, New Hampshire refused to budge, citing a state law that its contest must be held seven days before any other primary.

Biden elected to skip the primary, choosing to not even campaign there. The DNC deemed the New Hampshire contest “meaningless” and declared no delegates would be up for grabs this time around. 

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, R, is fighting back against those decisions.

“After Joe Biden and the Democratic Party tried and failed to strip New Hampshire of its first-in-the-nation presidential primary, they are now so worried that Joe Biden will suffer further embarrassment that they have called our primary ‘meaningless.,’” Sununu said. “New Hampshire voters have always turned national expectations on their head. This year will be no different, whether Joe Biden and the DNC like it or not.”

Other Democratic candidates who will appear on the primary’s ballot, such as Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., and author Marianne Williamson, called the DNC’s decision “voter suppression.”

“The Democratic Party should be investing in democracy,” Phillips said during the Democratic primary debate. “Promoting debate, promoting candidates and promoting voters.”

“It should be you, the people of New Hampshire, the people of every other state should decide who is the best Democratic nominee,” Williamson said.

Phillips also mocked Biden for his New Hampshire absence since his last official visit in April 2022.

Over the last several months, there’s been a grassroots effort by Democratic volunteers to get independents and Democrats to write in Biden’s name on the ballot in New Hampshire.

Now, voters are receiving robocalls with a fake Biden voice encouraging them not to vote in New Hampshire’s primary.

“You know the value of voting Democratic when our votes count. It’s important that you save your vote for the November election,” a call obtained by NBC News said.

At this time, it is unclear who is behind the robocalls.

Phillips and Williamson are hoping the write-in effort will fail as they seek to gain some notoriety heading into South Carolina’s primary.

There’s been heavy focus on the Republican side, as former President Donald Trump and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley try to win over the Granite State’s delegates.