VA, Virginia Independent Voters Association (VIVA)
WA, Washington Association of Independent Voters (WAIV)
WI, Wisconsin Group for an Independent Voice (WiGiv)
Welcome New Visitors. This is an exciting and challenging time for independent voters and for the independent movement. Independents are now 40% of the electorate. Polls show that 41% of college students consider themselves indies as do 35% of African Americans under the age of 30. Independents played an integral role in shaping the 2008 presidential season via open primaries and caucuses in 33 states as well as in recent contests in NJ, VA and MA.
Politics for the People, was founded in 2002 by Cathy Stewart as a free educational series for independent- minded New Yorkers. On April 27th, she hosted this dialogue with former Congressman Mickey Edwards, IndependentVoting.org President Jackie Salit and a live audience, on the topic of The Parties vs. The People. The event was broadcast on CSPAN May 3rd and 4th and is available online here.
Independents Rising: Outsider Movements, Third Parties and the Struggle for a Post-Partisan AmericaBy Jackie Salit. Publication Date: August 7, 2012.
Publishers Weekly — Earnest and informative . . . Covering both national and regional concerns, the book is strongest when it demystifies the movement itself . . . [INDEPENDENTS RISING] gives necessary voice to voters who are fed up with partisan politics and desire change.
Bob Friedman, Mark Bodenhausen and Lorna Lindsey (l to r) of Independent Alabama at the Edmund Pettis Bridge march organized by Reverend Sharpton commemorating the historic 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery.
Bobsaid,"There is an historic bond that ties African Americans and independents together.That bond is based on our shared belief that our democracy must work for everyone, not just the powerful, not just the parties—but for the people! "
Did Independents Make a Mark in Iowa? By Jackie Salit, Huffington Post. Click Here.
New Book out on Independents.Author Linda Killian spent 2 years researchingindependent voters and has written a thought provoking book. She interviewed many activists in the IndependentVoting.org network including: President, Jackie Salit (whose own book “Independent Rising” is due out in July), Counsel Harry Kresky, Julia Pfaff from the Virginia Independent Voters Association, Joelle Riddle and Kathleen Curry of Colorado and more.
Jackie Salit appeared on "Fox and Friends" where she gave an independents perspective on the budget negotiations.
Salit's view that the budget crisis further exposes the need for structural political reforms, have recently been echoed by Mickey Edwards inThe Altantic and Fareed Zakaria in theWashington Post .
"Ours is a system focused not on collective problem-solving but on a struggle for power between two private organizations."
On February 12, 2011 hundreds of independent movement activists from 40 states gathered at a national conference in New York City to discuss that question.
The 2011 National Conference of Independents was sponsored by IndependentVoting.org and hosted by its President, Jackie Salit who delivered this dynamic multi-media keynote address available on DVD with bonus features. Click to receive your copy
Coverage of the
2011 National Conference of Independents is available online:
Fred Newman and Jacqueline Salit--two leading activists and intellectuals within the independent political movement--have been meeting on weekends to have coffee, watch the political talk shows and have a conversation about them. In early 2005, they began transcribing these conversations and distributing them to their friends and followers. Over the years, their "talk about the talk" (hence the name Talk/Talk) developed into a popular weekly missive distributed via e-mail to tens of thousands of readers worldwide. Making (Non) Sense of an Irrational World is a compilation of some of their most popular and thought provoking discussions from the last five years.
South Carolina coalition successfully defends open primaries.
(Left to right: Wayne Griffin, Fletcher Smith, Jr.,
Harry Kresky, Representative Joe Neal)
"The Republican Party’s legal efforts to close its primary elections to those outside its ranks has met resistance both from the state attorney general of its own party and an unlikely coalition of independents who say they want voting influence in the state’s dominant political organization." So writes Eric Connor who is covering the lawsuit for the Greenville News.
Independents are not Moderates. Pew Research Center released a survey last month which was encouragingly called “Beyond Red vs. Blue.” Encouraging, that is, for the growing number of Americans eager to find a way out of the partisanship which has come to dominate public policy making at nearly every level of government. Read more
Independents Appeal U.S. District Court Decision Ruling Idaho's Open Primary System Unconstitutional.
Independents have taken an appeal from the decision of U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill ruling Idaho's open primary unconstitutional. Read the full press release here
And read the statement by Jackie Salit, President of Independentvoting.org after the ruling here
Idaho had an open primary system for 37 years, meaning that voters could choose to vote on any one party’s ballot. The trial’s outcome could change that...“It would have national ramifications,” said Harry Kresky (left), the country's leading legal advocate for independent voters.
"The Republican Party’s legal efforts to close its primary elections to those outside its ranks has met resistance both from the state attorney general of its own party and an unlikely coalition of independents who say they want voting influence in the state’s dominant political organization." So writes Eric Connor who is covering the lawsuit for the Greenville News.
Wayne Griffin (pictured left) chair of the South Carolina Independence Party and Greer City Councilman, delivered a report on the SC open primary fight at the recent National Conference of Independents.
"What we tend to see as historic are the dramatic, the explosive--as the world bears witness to events unfolding accross North Africa and the Middle East. Historical transformations, however, take (and have taken) other forms--less perceptible in their intensity, with equally uncertain outcomes."
—Dr. Omar Ali
Open Primary System Sustains Legal Challenge.
The recent decision by the California Supreme Court to reject an attempt to block the implementation of Proposition 14, the open primary, top two initiative passed by voters last June, is a positive and timely development.
The voters made a clear statement in passing Proposition 14 that they wanted to dislodge the supreme power of the parties. Though the state’s third parties—which supported the legal challenge are critics of the two-party system and say they want to give voters more competition elections—in this situation they have sided with the two parties against competition.
We’re glad the court rejected their effort to undo the very sweeping changes that Proposition 14 will bring to the state’s electoral process and to the 3.5 million independent voters who have gained full equality under the law.
The Parties are Over."These are strange political times," writes Jackie Salit in a Sunday Special to Newsday. "The pundits say this election is a referendum on President Barack Obama, but that doesn’t truly capture the dynamic." Read her analysis on the mid-term elections here in full.
California Open Primary Initiative Passes. Over two million voters cast a “Yes” vote for Proposition 14 and against partisan politics. As a result, the 3.4 million "Decline to State" independent voters will have equal access to the political process. Read the full statement from the California association for independents.
No issue has more popularity among independents than open primaries. Open primaries allow all voters, regardless of their party affiliation, to participate in each round of voting. Learn more about the fight open primaries in the video below.
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Wedge issues divide politicians from independents. Read CNN Ed Hornick's piece about how the political parties use of "wedge" issues to whip up hysteria are turning off independents. The piece features interviews with Independentvoting.org's Jackie Salit and Dr. Omar Ali, who is also a professor at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro.
"No Labels" Connects to Independent Voting. Concern about the negative effects of partisanship is growing as evidenced by two high-powered political operatives—one a Democrat, the other a Republican—coming together to create the newly formed No Labels organization. Independent student leader Nolan DiFrancesco, founder of College Independents and an activist in IndependentVoting.org’s network, attended a No Labels meeting and paved the way for a meeting between our president Jackie Salit and No Labels founder Nancy Jacobson in July. Read More
California open primary initiative - "Prop 14" - on the June 8th ballot. Prop 14 has been endorsed by the editorial boards of The Los Angeles Times, The San Fransisco Chronicle, and The Sacramento Bee. IndependentVoting.org general counsel Harry Kresky weighed in with this pro-open primary op ed which ran in the Sacramento Bee. Here Kresky takes on the opposition to open primaries from third parties arguing that they are putting the brakes on a badly needed political reform that would empower the states 3.4 million independent voters. Read the opinion piece
Independents Applaud Court Decision on California Prop 14 Ballot Wording. The California initiative for open primaries came under attack when opponents filed a lawsuit over the ballot measure's wording. Leading independent attorney Harry Kresky issued a statement about the effort by opponents to railroad the reform and today the court issued a decision favorable to California's 3.4 million independents. Read the statement
And Now a Word From Independents.The Republican and Democratic Parties have finally found something to agree on. Americans are angry. And what do the parties propose to do about it? Just keep them in power. But wait! Isn't it partisan vanity that made Americans so angry in the first place?
_______________________ "A comprehensive overview of the impact of the independent movement on the Obama election."
--Douglas Schoen, Political Strategist
_________________
Statement on MA Election.
"The Obama team needs to learn a lesson from Massachusetts," said Jackie Salit, president of IndependentVoting.org. "If you don't attend to the political dynamics in the independent movement, you'll pay the price. That movement is in the early stages of its development and is subject to many pushes and pulls. While the progressive leadership of the movement played the key role in swinging independents to Obama in 2008, the Obama team has turned a blind eye since then, choosing instead to focus only on the Democratic Party base. But if you do that, instead of finding ways to cultivate the progressive voices in independent politics, you're going to lose elections like the one yesterday. And, you might even lose the White House if you don't wake up to the fact that there is an emerging political universe - the independent movement - that you know nothing about."
Independents Elect First Independent Mayor of New York City. Mike Bloomberg received a record-breaking number of votes in the NYC mayoral race on the Independence Party's line, providing him his margin of victory, reinforcing the mandate for independent governance and nonpartisan reform and electing the first ever independent mayor of New York City. Read more
Urge President Obama to Fill Vacancy on FEC with an Independent. The call for President Obama to appoint an independent to the FEC is getting louder. In December, the New York Times published a letter to the editor from IV.org president Jackie Salit and attorney Harry Kresky in which they responded to a Times editorial, "The Election Sabotage Commission." Read their letter here. And here to read the letter sent to President Obama by IndependentVoting.org and contact the White House and your Senators.
Open Primaries on the Table in Pennsylvania. "The fact that Pennsylvania's presidential primaries were closed in 2008 educated a lot of independents, especially younger independents, about how our state's electoral system discriminates against non-aligned voters."
-Jennifer Bullock
Independent Pennsylvanian's
Jackie Salit on WLRN Radio. Hear Jackie Salit discuss the role independent voters are playing in reshaping American politics on WLRN's "Topical Currents."
XM Satellite Radio interview with Jackie Salit. Keith Murphy, host of the Urban Journal, interviewed Jackie Salit about the independent political movement and it's role in the 2008 presidential election.
Black political independence in American history subject of new book. Dr. Omar Ali, author of In the Balance of Power, convincingly demonstrates African Americans have long been part of independent political movements and have used third parties to advance some of the most important changes in the U.S. Read advance praise for this new publication from Ohio University Press and listen to an interview with CUIP President Jackie Salit.
Independent Voters Join Federal Case on Open Primaries. Independent voters and two groups representing independents were granted intervenor status in litigation concerning open primaries. Attorney Harry Kresky (left) was interviewed about the victory after the hearing in Boise. Read press coverage and the deposition of Republican Party state chair who seeks to close ID's primaries.
New Books out on Independents. Peruse author profiles and reviews of three books of interest to independents. Doug Shoen's Declaring Independence: The Beginning of the End of the Two-Party System. Marcia Ford's We the Purple and Dr. Omar Ali's In the Balance of Power: Independent Black Politics and Third-Party Movements in the United States.
You Can't Change the Political Game Unless You Change the Political Rules. Independents are now 40% of the electorate and are playing a major role in national and local politics. Read about the issues and political reforms favored by many independent voters that address the institutional barriers to their participation and to greater democracy.
How Nader Has Made Himself An Irrelevant Man. Ralph Nader seems to equate himself with the independent political movement and to define it relative to his positions, his aspirations and his critiques of the two-party system.
Can Independents add Sway to their Swing? A desire and need among independents to be organized--not just as swing voters reacting to partisan dynamics-- but as sway voters able to initiate events and sit at the table on their own behalf is the subject of this editorial first published in the Worcester Telegram and Gazette.
Party Leaders Out of Step with Voters The Olympian
The Supreme Court of the state of California has unanimously upheld Proposition
14, which creates an election system whereby all candidates appear on the same
primary ballot with the top two-vote getters advancing to the general
election..
Alaska May Offer a View to Future Elections
Matt Bai New York Times
...it’s also possible that Alaska’s defiant electorate, like the California voters
who just approved a radical change to their voting system, is actually telling
us something important about where American politics is headed, at a time when
our system for selecting candidates feels increasingly anachronistic.
Partisanship is Dead; Long Live Partisanship
Yana Kunichoff TruthOut
According to CUIP's polling, 90 percent of independents support open primaries.
They argue that this would allow an additional 40 percent of American voters to
participate. Thirty-three states already have some form of open primary or
caucus at the presidential level, and a handful for federal or state office as
well. In addition, many cities have nonpartisan municipal elections.
Third Party Rising
Thomas L. Friedman New York Times
...Obama probably did the best he could do, and that’s the point. The best
our current two parties can produce today — in the wake of the worst
existential crisis in our economy and environment in a century — is
suboptimal, even when one party had a huge majority. Suboptimal is O.K.
for ordinary times, but these are not ordinary times. We need
to stop waiting for Superman and start building a superconsensus to do
the superhard stuff we must do now. Pretty good is not even close to
good enough today.
Partisan Trends: For Second Straight Month, Number of Democrats in U.S. Falls to Record Low
Jonathan Capehart Rasmussen Reports
For the second month in a row, the number of Americans who identify themselves as Democrats has fallen to a record low.
An Independent Look at Campaign Finance Regulation
Harry Kresky Huffington Post
Independents, now more than forty percent of the American electorate,
are challenging the domination of our politics and government by the two
major parties. They seek full participation and structural solutions to
the hyper-partisanship in Washington and state capitals across the
country. A series of recent federal court decisions reflect the progress
that is being made to reposition "non-party" players who seek the right
to compete effectively in the political process.
Move On, Move On!
Jacqueline Salit (Co-authored w/ Harry Kresky and Jason Olson) Huffington Post
On May 2, 2010 MoveOn.org launched its "most important campaign ever,"
an effort to "end the stranglehold that big corporations and lobbyists
have on our government." MoveOn.org seeks nothing less than to "fix our
democracy and put We the People back in charge." The MoveOn.org "launch," while joining the growing chorus of those who
are speaking out against the way the political process is working,
ignores a critical factor that is both cause and effect of public
disaffection with politics: the growth of the independent movement.
Can Independents Seize the Day?
John Avlon CNN Opinion
Three credible independent candidates are running for governor this
year in three New England states where registered independents outnumber
Democrats and Republicans.
It's the latest sign that independent
voters are rising from the ranks of the politically homeless to become
the largest and fastest growing segment of the American electorate.
To Reduce Partisanship, Get Rid of Partisans
Phil Keisling New York Times
WANT to get serious about reducing the toxic levels of
hyper-partisanship and legislative dysfunction now gripping American
politics? Here’s a direct, simple fix: abolish party primary elections.
Op Ed: For Youth In Politics, the 'party' is over
John Opdycke North.Jersey.com
....Fully 50 percent of voters aged 18-29 now identify as independents, and
the percentage of the electorate under 30 is growing. In 2006, 18- to
29-year-olds accounted for 21 percent of the electorate. By 2015,
estimates are that 18- to 29-year-olds will account for 33 percent of
all voters.
The Declaration of Independents
Jonathan Capehart The Washington Post
The collision of a landmark special election in Massachusetts and the
first anniversary of the Obama administration has produced an
interesting conversation among opinion makers and strategists about what
the administration got wrong -- and what it and Democrats have to do
better if they hope to avoid a repeat of last night in November. But the overarching lesson in Republican Scott Brown's election to the U.S. Senate is the same is it was in 2006 and 2008. Hell hath no fury like frustrated independent voters.
Maybe We Should End Primary Elections
Bob Schieffer
on Face the Nation
I'm not much for radical change, but watching the
toxic partisan debate over health care made me take notice of a
proposal by Phil Keisling, a former Oregon Secretary of State.
Writing in The New York Times last week, he said, "If we want to get
serious about reducing hyper-partisanship and legislative dysfunction,
then just eliminate party primary elections."
Barack Obama Knows that He Has to Reconnect with Independent Voters When He Gives His State of the Union Address
Howard Fineman Newsweek
Who are these people and how can Obama lure them back?
Swing to the Left: New Progressives
Jacqueline Salit The Pueblo Chieftan
When we finally get far enough down the road on health care
reform, it will become clear that a driving force in the intensity
of the fight was a heart attack. Not the medical kind - the
political kind. Independents swung decisively to Barack Obama in the 2008
presidential election. And it is this shift by independents who
repositioned themselves from center-right to center-left and gave
the Republican right the political equivalent of cardiac
arrest
Obama's youthquake: Is the Senator Leading a Movement, or Just an Interesting Campaign?
Richard Halicks Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Obama's "movement" might still founder under the disciplined assault of Hillary Clinton's campaign. But until that time, it is powered in large part by the inexhaustible idealism of young American voters, who are turning out in extraordinary numbers in the Democratic primaries. In Georgia, for example, people 18 to 29 as a percentage of all voters increased from 11 percent in the 2004 primary to 17 percent last week. The increase was typical of other primary states, and in nearly all cases, the majority of that younger vote went to Obama.
Why Independents Hold the Key
Gerald Seib Wall Street Journal
Presidential campaigns, like sports events, play out amid a blizzard of statistics. But if you have to keep in mind just one number, make it this one: Almost 45% of New Hampshire's voters are officially registered as "undeclared" -- that is, they are independent voters.
Washington Case Will Help Weigh Party Power vs. Public Interest
Op ED
Harry Kresky The News Tribune
The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard two cases in which it was called upon to weigh the competing interests of political parties, government and the American people. In the argument of both cases, surprising deference was paid to the rights of political parties by the justices and lawyers alike.
The November Surprise
Lou Dobbs CNN
More Americans than ever before are now identifying themselves as independents, and I hope millions of Americans in the day and weeks ahead will drop their party affiliation and become independents, refusing to be taken for granted by these two political parties and refusing to be taken for fools by the candidates they're putting forward.
Candidates Still Take Cues from Their Base: Indepen-dents' Rise Presents a Dilemma
Dan Balz Washington Post
