On  Saturday, hundreds of Independents from across the country gathered in  New York City for the CUIP’s National Conference of Independents  entitled, “Can Independents Reform America?”

The  conference was organized by the Committee for a Unified Independent  Party, which is perhaps better known by its online portal at IndependentVoting.org.   Founded in 1994 by independent community organizers and third party  activists, the organization now has local affiliates and chapters in  over thirty states.  The daylong event, which was hosted at New York  University, featured: a presentation by the group’s president Jackie  Salit, a panel discussion on “breaking into a partisan system,” numerous  “dispatches from the movement” in which representatives of state  affiliates reported on their ongoing activities, an open forum for  questions and comments from the audience, and even a mock trial that  pitted the parties vs. the people.

Despite  the fact that Independents constitute the fastest growing segment of  the American electorate and already outnumber both Democrats and  Republicans in more than ten states, they are systematically excluded  from our nation’s political process.  As numerous speakers at the  conference pointed out, Independent voters are disenfranchised by the  closed primary system preferred by partisans in states across the  country, and Independent candidates for elected office face  institutional barriers erected by Democratic and Republican party  lawmakers at the local, state and federal levels.

In one of the  “dispatches from the movement,” former Arizona State Representative Ted Downing elicited a gasp from the audience when he revealed the pettiness of  those institutional hurdles. Downing ran for State Senate as an  Independent in 2010, having previously served in the Arizona House of  Representatives as a Democrat.  As a non-partisan candidate, Downing  learned that Independents not only face an uphill battle to simply  obtain ballot access, they even have to pay more money in postage than  their Democratic and Republican rivals.  “It’s in the postal code!” he  exclaimed.  Though registered Independents now outnumber registered  Democrats in the state, he noted, they remain hamstrung by the “bankrupt  political structure” of the two-party system.

Other  such dispatches featured short talks by representatives of the  organization’s affiliates from Kentucky, Texas, Illinois, Iowa, New York  and Colorado among others.  In what was perhaps the most stirring  moment of the conference, Joelle Riddle appeared to hold back tears as  she and Kathleen Curry told the story of their falling out with the  Colorado Democratic party and how they were effectively “pushed out of  the system” for refusing to tow the party line.  Riddle, a former  county commissioner, and Curry, a former state representative, were both  excluded from the ballot in the 2010 elections after cutting ties with  the party in 2009 and seeking re-election as Independent candidates.  As  the Durango Herald reported earlier this month, the duo have since:

“launched legal and  political battles to overturn party registration deadlines and change  campaign-finance laws that keep independent candidates from raising as  much money as candidates affiliated with a political party.”

The  conference panel discussion focused on the ways in which Independents  are changing the dynamics of traditional two-party politics, on the  interconnection between political and social reform and on the question  of whether the party system should be considered a political  anachronism.  The make-up of the panel reflected the CUIP’s center-left  orientation as well as its founding coalition of Independent and third  party activists.

Centrist political commentator John Avlon kicked off  the discussion arguing that the Democratic and Republican parties have  effectively rigged our political system in their own favor and that,  given the growing Independent movement, the choice between the two is no  longer reflective of political reality in 21st century America.   Theresa Amato, who managed Ralph Nader’s presidential campaigns in 2000  and 2004, concurred, and made a case in favor of easing ballot access  restrictions to expand the choices afforded to Americans in the voting  booth.  Jim Mangia, a founder of the Reform Party, and Bradley Tusk, who  served as campaign manager for Michael Bloomberg’s Independent bid for  mayor of New York City, urged Independents to become more involved in  issue advocacy, and act as a countervailing force in concert with other  groups opposed to the policies forwarded by the two-party establishment.

The panel also included veteran Independent activist Lenora Fulani, a  co-founder of CUIP and former presidential candidate, Michael Hardy, who  is perhaps best known for his work with Rev. Al Sharpton’s National  Action Network, Cathy Stewart, the Chief Organizer for the New York City  Independence Party and political analyst Douglas Shoen.  Following  a lively open forum which featured an array of questions and comments  from attendees, the day’s events concluded with a well-received mock  trial in which the people challenged the primacy of the party system.

Interestingly,  though the Independent movement is not as pronounced in California as  it is elsewhere in the country, the state has already begun to implement  a number of the reforms advocated at the National Conference of  Independents, such as the top two open primary system and the creation of  independent redistricting commissions.

For information on the  California chapter of the CUIP see IndependentVoice.org.