Independent voters in Michigan and Wisconsin were less concerned with the conviction itself than with determining which candidate, if any, deserves the job.
The felony conviction of former President Donald Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records is likely to change few minds among undecided voters in two battleground states.
The reasons for that are varied, as is the thinking of these voters who are rightly termed independents.
Some have already ruled out voting for President Trump but remain undecided about their choice for November. Others have ruled out both major candidates, and some are undecided about whether to vote at all.
Yet another group remains open to persuasion by either major party—or perhaps a third.
In the 24 hours following the Trump verdict, The Epoch Times took the pulse of undecided voters in Michigan and Wisconsin, two key battlegrounds in presidential politics.
“I stand by the jury’s decision,” Wade Good of Canton, Michigan, told The Epoch Times. The verdict will factor into his vote, Mr. Good said, but won’t necessarily determine his choice.
La’Var Williams, 27, of Detroit, said he wasn’t surprised about President Trump’s guilt but was astonished that he had been convicted. He saw the verdict as a validation of the legal system. About his choice for November, “I haven’t thought too much about it, to be honest,” Mr. Williams said, adding that the verdict might factor into his decision.
Crystal, a Milwaukee woman, said the New York verdict has not made her more likely to vote for either President Trump or President Biden. She doesn’t see 2024 as a particularly significant contest. “It’s like any other election to me,” she said.
The undecided voters displayed varying degrees of political engagement, and most appeared to be thoughtful about their choices.
Krishna Gogi, 23, and Rishi Pammi, 21, of Canton, Michigan, both students, were only vaguely aware that President Trump was standing trial and had no reaction to the verdict. “I’ve lost confidence in both parties,” Mr Gogi told The Epoch Times, “especially with everything that’s happened in Palestine.”
Both said they won’t vote for either major candidate in November but are still unsure whom they will support. Mr. Pammi said, “I’d rather have my voting power go to something I believe in.”
