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"Contact us today to get connected to our network of independent voter groups below.  Together we're making a difference."

Email National directors: Nancy Ross
or
Gwen Mandell

 

Independent groups


CUIP is motivating, training and supporting an activist network of independent leaders who are building throughout the country.

* * *

AL, Independent Alabama

AZ, Arizona Independents

CA, IndependentVoice.Org

CT, Independent Party

DE, Independent Party of Delaware

FL, Florida Independent Voting.org

GA, Georgia Independent Voters

GA, iMove

IA, Independent Voters of Iowa

ID, America Independent Movement

IL, United Independents of Illinois

KY, Independent Kentucky

MA, Massachusetts Coalition of Independent Voters

MD, Independent Voters of Maryland

MI, Grand Valley State Independents

MS, Committee for Open Primaries

NC, North Carolina Independents

NJ, Committee for an Independent New Jersey

NH, New Hampshire Independent Voters


NV, Independent Voters of Nevada

NY, Independence Party

OH, Independent Ohio


PA, Independent Pennsylvanians

SC, Independence Party of South Carolina

SD, South Dakota Voice of Independents

TN, Independent Tennessee

TX, Independent Texans

UT, Utah League of Independent Voters

VA, Virginia Independent Voters Association (VIVA)

WA, Washington Association of Independent Voters (WAIV)

WI, Wisconsin Group for an Independent Voice (WiGiv)

 


 

National Conference Call for Independents.  Every six weeks, CUIP president Jacqueline Salit hosts America's largest ongoing national call for independents. She provides updates about what independents are doing around the country and how the movement is growing. Get connected, hear updates. 

Sign up for the next call.

Listen to the 4/23/13 call here
"Where Do We 'Grow' From Here: An Independent View"

Listen to the 1/15/13 call here
"Roads & Roadblocks: How the Independent Movement is Stepping on Toes (including Big Toes!)"

Listen to the 12/4/12 call here
"A Post Election Conversation with Jackie Salit:
What's Next for Independents?"

Listen to the 10/9/12 call here

"Bringing Culture Change to America"

Listen to the 8/7/12 call here

"Independents Rising: The Movement Behind the Book"

Listen to the 4/23/12 call here

"The Parties vs. the People": Salit Interviews Former Congressman Mickey Edwards

Listen to the 2/8/12 call here

     
 
    ALABAMA
  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.
Bob said,"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! "
     
    ARIZONA

 

Independent Arizona Continues to Fight for Top Two!

The Top Two Open Primary Initiative, Prop 121, lost in Arizona by a margin of 33% to 67%. We congratulate the 473,000+ voters who voted for the initiative.

This is just the beginning of the fight for Top Two. A significant coalition of Democrats, Republicans and Independents came together in support this nonpartisan reform effort and lay the basis for a future fight for nonpartisan elections. Independent activists are using this opportunity to build their organization. If you are interested in participating, please contact brenda@sperduti.net.

Click here for sample emails written by other Arizona independents in support of Prop 121.

     
    FLORIDA
     


 

Florida Independent Voting.org was formed by a dozen activists throughout Florida in March 2012 and is coordinated by Duane Pike in Tampa and Choice Edwards in Clermont.

 

Says Pike, "We now have spokespeople in numerous cities throughout Florida and have developed materials to help in our efforts to contact representatives, write editorials and media requests and build independent organization in Florida.  We urge you to be part of our exciting and important campaign for open primaries here in Florida."

Florida Independent Voting.Org is now a Florida Political Action Committee and has received Approval for its Top Two Open Primary Initiative Petition #12-3 from the Florida Department of State. A petition drive is underway to have this placed on the 2014 Ballot for a Constitutional Amendment. For more info, go to Florida IndependentVoting.org's website.

Download the official petition. 

Please "like" us on Facebook

For more information and to become active, email FloridaIndependentVoting.Org@tampabay.rr.com

 

     
    IDAHO
     
 

Idaho Independents Fight to Keep Primaries Open. Mitch Campbell, founder of the American Independent Movement of Idaho, is the initiator of a legal action on behalf of independent voters in his state whose ability to vote in open primaries has been threatened by a Republican Party lawsuit seeking to force the state of Idaho to close its primaries and institute partisan voter registration. While the Judge ruled against independents in the first round, AIM and Independentvoting.org have appealed the case and a campaign to raise funds and to reach out to Idaho independents for phase 2 is underway.  Read more

     
    KENTUCKY
     

 

Independent Kentucky continues the fight for open primaries and political reform. Contact independentky@gmail.com. or you can find Independent Kentucky here to follow Independent Kentucky's ongoing fight to pass open primary legislation.

IK now has its own IK-Live UStream station where you can check out their latest statewide meeting.  On the last broadcast, IK Chair Michael Lewis spoke about the organization's 120/120 campaign where they are looking to get 120 signatures in each of the Commonwealth's 120 counties.  IK also began phone bank events to reach out to independents around the state. 

     
    MARYLAND

 

Independent Voters of Maryland (IVMD)held it's first meeting entitled "The Independent Movement and Why Open Primaries Are Important to You at Calvary Baptist Church in Upper Marlboro, attended by residents of Montgomery, Charles and Prince Georges Counties. IVMD leaders Jeremy Stinson and Jesse Hansley have begun lobbying state legislators to introduce an open primary bill, and Stinson has launched a campaign for Congress running as an independent.   For more info on IVMD, check out the facebook page or Email IVMD founder Jeremy Stinson at

jeremys@iv-md.org. Read Stinson's Op Ed here and the Letter to the Editor by Jesse Hansley here

     
    MASSACHUSETTS

 

 

 

 

Massachusetts Coalition of Independent Voters is an association representing independents who make up 51% of registered voters. MCOIV spent the summer on the streets of Boston collecting postcards in support of Congressional Hearings and then used their muscle to meet with Congresspersons Capuano and staffmembers of Senator Brown.  Read Evelyn Dougherty's Letter to the Editor in The Jewish Journal, which also ran in the Taunton Gazette here.  For more info on MCOIV contact eebbdoc1@aol.com

     
    NEVADA
     
 

Catana Barnes, of Reno has founded Independent Voters of Nevada (IVON) and begun a statewide petitioning drive in support of Open Primaries.  Nevada is a closed primary state. Barnes is currently calling independents across the state and polling them. The open primary petition can be downloaded here or sign the petition online here

Barnes was quoted in the Las Vegas Sun and appeared on a national radio show The Takeaway.  Read her latest guest editorial in The Humboldt Sun.  For more information or to participate in the campaign, contact Catana at independentvotersofNevada@gmail.com or go IVON's website

     
    NEW HAMPSHIRE
     
  The Concord Monitor printed a letter from the newly-formed New Hampshire Independent Voters to Governor John Lynch urging him to veto Senate Bill 129.  This bill, similar to bills that have recently passed in a number of states, would require all voters to present government-issued photo identification in order to vote. The letter was written by Sue Erickson (Concord) and signed by Committee members Bill Nichols (Grantham) and Pat Spaulding (Rye).  You can read the letter in full here
     
    NORTH CAROLINA

 

 


  North Carolina Independents are holding a series of forums, including the recent one at UNC-Greensboro. Dr. Omar Ali (Assoc. Prof of African American & Diaspora Studies & History, UNC-Greensboro) and Donna Moser authored an op ed Declaration of Independents.  Ali was quoted in a Guilford College Newspaper, Politics Are Not Red or Blue and has been a regular on CBS News (here he discusses the disconnect between Americans having the right to vote and voters not excercising that right). And the latest - Moser was interviewed by Yahoo News! in Up for Grabs: North Carolina's New Role as a 2012 Swing State North Carolina Independents which represents the 1.5 million unaffiliated voters is involved in a variety of activities to call for hearings on the biases of independents and to increase to the registration (and voice) of unaffiliated voters in NC.  If you'd like to get involved, email NCI at NC.Independents@gmail.com or check out their website
     
    OHIO
     

 

 

As one of her first tasks in launching Independent Ohio, Cynthia Carpathios wrote an Op-Ed, "Independent Voters Urge Reforms to Limit Partisan Political Power" that was published in two newspapers, The Signal, a community paper and The Cleveland Plain Dealer, the daily paper of Cleveland.

Her Guest Column has generated an engaged back and forth in the comments section on why independents choose to be independents and prompted the local NBC-TV affiliate (WKYC) to do a story on Independent Ohio.  Click here to view Between the Lines: Independent Voters Launch Group

Independent Ohio has launched a petition calling for the enactment of a non-partisan open primary system.  The petition says "Under Nonpartisan Open Primaries, voters will no longer be labeled as party members simply because they voted in a primary election, or be forced to sign a loyalty oath if they want to change which party primary they vote in." Sign the petition online or download the petition here. For more information, contact IndependentOhio@gmail.com or visit Independent Ohio's website.

     
    PENNSYLVANIA
     
 

Independent Pennslyvanians. Rep. Eugene DePasquale's [D-York] has introduced a political reform package for the 2011 legislative session which includes a top-two open primary legislation.  Independent Pennsylvania has met w/ RE. DePasquale and continues to hit the pavements and gather thousands of signatures on a petition. For more information on Independent Pennsylvania go to Independent Pennsylvania and sign the open primaries petition.

     
    SOUTH CAROLINA
     
  52 South Carolina Independents signed on to a letter to the editor supporting efforts by a coalition of forces including Independentvoting.org, South Carolina Independence Party (led by Wayne Griffin, left with CUIP attorney Harry Kresky) and 13 local elected officials to keep the primaries open. The coalition intervened on the Republican Party's attempt to have the primaries closed and Judge Michelle Childs ruled in favor of keeping the primaries open.  Congratulations to all! 
     
    SOUTH DAKOTA
     
  In open primaries fight, one down and one to go. Kim Wright, the founder and chair of South Dakota Voice of Independents, has been working tirelessly for open primaries in a state where the legislature leaves it up to the parties to decide whether to welcome independents or keep them out. In October of last year, the Democratic Party voted to open its primaries to independents beginning in 2011. In "Finally, a seat at the table" in the Rapid City Journal, Wright called upon the Republican Party to follow suit, but the GOP let the 12/31 deadline pass without changing its closed-door policy. Read Wright's letter to the editor in the Rapid City Journal.  Read more
     
    UTAH
     
 

More than half of Utah voters (51.5%) consider themselves independent. To give voice to their concerns, the Utah League of Independent Voters (ULIV) have set up a website and participated in a redistricting initiative sponsored by Fair Boundaries. Randy Miller, who leads the group is currently running for county surveyor.

     
    VIRGINIA
     
 

Virginia Independent Voters Association (VIVA) can be reached via their facebook page or by emailing Virginiaindependents@gmail.com. Here's a report by the Northern Virginia crew on their visit to Capitol Hill to meet with Congress and their staff and ask them to hold hearings.

     
     

 
   
     
 

Independents Write President Obama for the Midterms

On Independentvoting.org's October 12 conference call, Jackie Salit urged participants to "Write to President Obama"

110 people wrote letters in the week leading to the Midterm elections.  Read the letters here. You can still write your letter today! Find out what Salit said and where to send your letter here

 

     
 

The national Coffee Party held its first convention in Louisville, Kentucky the weekend of September 24-26 entitled Restoring American Democracy and Independentvoting.org was invited to be a sponsor of the event by Coffee Party founder Annabel Park.  Michael Lewis of Independent Kentucky and Gwen Mandell, national coordinator of Independentvoting.org conducted a workshop on “The Rise of Independent Voter.” Read More

View "Rise of the Independent Voter" Workshop here

   
     

 

 

 

Newly independent elected officials go to work for political reform. Joelle Riddle (top left), a County Commissioner in La Plata, Colorado, decided that she could serve her constituents most effectively as an independent. So the former Democrat changed her registration - only to find she couldn't run again as an independent because state law requires that would-be candidates who re-register must have done so 18 months in advance of the election. Riddle filed a lawsuit challenging the law; she also turned to State Representative Kathleen Curry (bottom left), then Speaker Pro Tem of the House, asking her to sponsor legislation that would level the playing field. Curry re-registered as an indy too! Read the joint amicus brief filed by CUIP and Riddle in support of State Curry’s appeal which seeks relief from discriminatory deadlines imposed on independent candidates (along with the press release announcing it) and an article about Riddle's efforts in the Durango Herald. Independent Voters for Colorado, launched a petition drive calling for non-partisan open primaries (Top Two).

     
     
 

Independents at Democracy in America Conference. Nancy Ross, CUIP's Director of Special Projects, attended the Democracy in America conference and reports. Read more.

     
  Independents at Claim Democracy Conference. Harry Kresky (pictured on right with US Term Limits and Initiative & Referendum champion Paul Jacob) led a workshop on the subject of fusion-voting and the Independence Party experience in NY at a conference on political reform sponsored by FairVote and 60 other organizations. Read more.
     
 

Oregon Open Primary Initiative Relaunches for 2008. Opening up partisan primaries to independent voters is a litmus test issue on the political reform front and now Phil Keisling, a former Oregon Secretary of State, is planning an effort to put an open primary initiative on the ballot in November 2008. Read more.

     
Photo: Tom Brokaw speaks to AARP audience   Independents Take Action Against Exclusionary Debate. CUIP mobilized independents to write letters to AARP, Iowa Public Television and PBS urging the inclusion of former Senator Mike Gravel and Rep. Dennis Kucinich who were excluded from the presidential forum in Davenport, Iowa. Click here to read more
     
  2007 National Conference of Independents. Hosted by CUIP political director Jackie Salit, 500 independents from 31 states gathered in New York City for a day long event featuring an in-depth look at how independents can increase visibility and influence in the political process.
     
The Southern Regional Conference of Independents.  Georgia Independent Voters ("GIV") co-chair Murray Dabby (right) with independent broadcaster Rob Redding of www.reddingnewsreview.com were among 50 who attended the Southern Regional Conference of Independents in Atlanta, GA.
     
 

2003 National Conference of Independents. 3 hours, 5 minutes CSPAN broadcast covering two panels and an audience Q & A session. New York City January 19, 2003.


 

 

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NYC: Building the Indie-to-Indie
Connection
Monthly phon-a-thon at the offices of CUIP.
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