Connecticut’s first ever early-ballot elections had extremely low turnout; just 1% of voters registered with either major party. Many people have blamed this on the low urgency of the election. After all, both parties already have a nominee, and so Connecticut can’t change the candidate.

That may be true. But many people still took the opportunity to show up and display their support for the nominee anyway. Over 55,000 Democrats voted for Joe Biden, and over 34,000 voted for Donald Trump. The primary allows these people to make their voices heard in their support of the nominee.

But even more important are the people who showed up to display their discontent with the nominee. Just over 15% of Democrats voted against Joe Biden, while 22.1% of Republicans voted against Donald Trump. The primary serves as a chance for voters to tell their party’s leadership that just because they are a party member doesn’t mean they like the nominee. Most do this through the ‘uncommitted’ option.

People often berate uncommitted voters, or even anyone who bothered to vote in the primary at all, for wasting their time. These people point to the fact that both candidates are guaranteed to win. In all honesty, this is true. Five out of six of the non-presumptive candidates in either party had already dropped out. Nikki Haley dropped out a month ago, yet she still won second place in the early elections. Why? It’s because the point isn’t to vote for the one you want; it’s to vote against the one you have.

Joe Biden and Donald Trump are both some of the most unpopular presidential candidates ever nominated to run, much less run a second time. For a lot of voters, including the third of Connecticut voters who voted against their party’s candidate, they see no appealing candidate in this election. Many will just vote for who they hate less rather than like more. They believe in a party but not its candidate.

It’s also important to remember that voting against the nominee can be a chance to display displeasure with a particular issue. In Michigan, voters unhappy with the lack of support for Palestine took to voting ‘uncommitted’ as a sign of protest. It was so successful that it garnered over 100,000 votes and even won two delegates. Two weeks later, Biden explicitly mentioned providing more relief for Gaza in his State of the Union address. Whether you agree with that or not, it’s obvious that people took the chance to make their opinions heard, and this impacted the president’s decisions. Providing a large ‘uncommitted’ response can show your discontent at the nominee or their platform.

This has been lost on many people, not least of which being Gov. Ned Lamont. The governor received lots of attention from the media for his harsh words against ‘uncommitted’ voters. Not only did he say that these people are “...wasting their votes … and wasting my time,” he also said that the “hottest place in hell” is reserved for them. These statements are obviously ludicrous.

First of all, it’s a little ridiculous to say voters are ‘wasting his time.’ This isn’t his time at all. It’s the voters’ time to engage in the democratic process and show their own opinion. To relate it back to himself is at best naive and at worst egotistical. If he disagrees with them, that’s fine, but it isn’t a ‘waste of his time’ because it isn’t his time at all.

Second: the ‘hottest place in hell?’ Really? Can one seriously suggest that Satan’s inferno is the only place suitable for voters who simply don’t like their party’s candidate and want to show that? In fact, I’d argue the opposite. If you go out of your way to stand up for your values and vote against someone you don’t believe in, even if it’s futile, then the only biblical place suited for you is one exalted amongst the heavens for ignoring the polarization of today and standing up for your true beliefs.

If you don’t like either candidate, then vote uncommitted. Let the world see that, no, just because you’re a member of this party does not mean you like this man. In the worst-case scenario, you lost three minutes of your time, and can still vote again in November. In the best-case scenario, your party and its leadership will take note that its base isn’t happy, and will seek better candidates in the next election. There is nothing to be lost by letting your voice be heard.

Mathew Biadun is from Bristol, and currently studies History and Political Science at Eastern Connecticut State University. He writes for the Campus Lantern, ECSU’s student newspaper.