Do Independent Voters Need More Independent Candidates?

image
Published: 30 Aug, 2013
Updated: 14 Oct, 2022
1 min read

ivnvoters

Demand, meet Supply

Amidst some disenchantment with both major political parties, the chart above shows, when looking across the 50 states, the share of votes earned by candidates that were not either Democratic or Republican has fallen significantly for U.S. House of Representative elections since 2000.

Super No Funding Time_adThe State Data Lab resource (Votes Cast for House Election – Other), developed by Truth in Accounting, shows that states with relatively high shares of non-major party votes in 2000 also had some of the greatest declines.  The average share of non-major-party votes in the 5 states with the highest non-Dem and non-GOP shares in 2000 (Alaska, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont) fell from 28% to 7% over that time frame.  In those states, the shift was clearly associated with rising fortunes for Democratic candidates.

Roughly one-fifth of the states showed a rising trend in non-major-party candidate share of total vote, however.   These states were Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, Tennessee, and Wyoming.

Truth in Accounting would appreciate feedback on new ideas for data and other resources independent voters would like to see on State Data Lab.

Latest articles

Crowd in Time Square.
NYC Exit Survey: 96% of Voters Understood Their Ranked Choice Ballots
An exit poll conducted by SurveyUSA on behalf of the nonprofit better elections group FairVote finds that ranked choice voting (RCV) continues to be supported by a vast majority of voters who find it simple, fair, and easy to use. The findings come in the wake of the city’s third use of RCV in its June 2025 primary elections....
01 Jul, 2025
-
6 min read
A man filling out his election ballot.
Oregon Activist Sues over Closed Primaries: 'I Shouldn't Have to Join a Party to Have a Voice'
A new lawsuit filed in Oregon challenges the constitutionality of the state’s closed primary system, which denies the state’s largest registered voting bloc – independent voters – access to taxpayer-funded primary elections. The suit alleges Oregon is denying the voters equal voting rights...
01 Jul, 2025
-
3 min read
Supreme Court building.
Supreme Court Sides with Federal Corrections Officers in Lawsuit Over Prison Incident
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 30 that federal prison officers and officials cannot be sued by an inmate who accused them of excessive force during a 2021 incident, delivering a victory for federal corrections personnel concerned about rising legal exposure for doing their jobs....
01 Jul, 2025
-
3 min read