logo

Unaffiliated Voters Outnumber Party Voters -- So Why Can't They Vote?

image
Created: 10 April, 2015
Updated: 21 November, 2022
1 min read
The recent

Pew Research Center study analyzing trends in party affiliation among Americans has made its rounds in the media, with different news sources drawing different conclusions, depending on their slant.

One fact that remains constant in the reporting of the study: Americans are increasingly deciding not to affiliate with a political party, and 39 percent of Americans identify as independent. 

The trend began in the early 1990s when polarization and political gridlock were high, Linda Killian, executive director of Independent Americans United and senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center, writes in the Wall Street Journal.

Political gridlock is ever more present in today's political landscape, leading to more Americans identifying as politically independent.

"This disaffiliation is a conscious choice and reflects Americans’ dissatisfaction with political leaders, the two major parties, and the political system’s dysfunction and polarization."  - Linda Killian

Killian notes that while independent voters are the most rapidly growing political demographic, most still cannot participate in primary elections, a point IVN.us has been making since its creation back in 2006:

"The largest geographic concentration of independent voters is in New England. In most states in that region, independents are permitted to vote in primaries. About half of the states do not allow independents to participate in primary elections. If all primary elections were open to unaffiliated voters, the number of independents would almost certainly be higher." - Linda Killian

What does this mean for election? Since unaffiliated and independent-minded voters are repeatedly shut out of an integral stage of the election, the people who do participate most in politics are also the most partisan and most ideological.

In turn, the candidates elected represent the small, ideologically-driven sub-sect of the voting population (think Ted Cruz), leading even more voters to regress from politics, and the vicious cycle repeats itself...

Read the full Wall Street Journal article here.

Latest articles

votes
Wyoming Purges Nearly 30% of Its Voters from Registration Rolls
It is not uncommon for a state to clean out its voter rolls every couple of years -- especially to r...
27 March, 2024
-
1 min read
ballot box
The Next Big Win in Better Election Reform Could Come Where Voters Least Expect
Idaho isn't a state that gets much attention when people talk about politics in the US. However, this could change in 2024 if Idahoans for Open Primaries and their allies are successful with their proposed initiative....
21 March, 2024
-
3 min read
Courts
Why Do We Accept Partisanship in Judicial Elections?
The AP headline reads, "Ohio primary: Open seat on state supreme court could flip partisan control." This immediately should raise a red flag for voters, and not because of who may benefit but over a question too often ignored....
19 March, 2024
-
9 min read
Nick Troiano
Virtual Discussion: The Primary Solution with Unite America's Nick Troiano
In the latest virtual discussion from Open Primaries, the group's president, John Opdycke, sat down ...
19 March, 2024
-
1 min read
Sinema
Sinema's Exit Could Be Bad News for Democrats -- Here's Why
To many, the 2024 presidential primary has been like the movie Titanic - overly long and ending in a disaster we all saw coming from the start. After months of campaigning and five televised primary debates, Americans are now faced with a rematch between two candidates polling shows a majority of them didn’t want....
19 March, 2024
-
7 min read