The independent voting movement is a group of progressive, anti-party,

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right * L ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

right Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of Liberty, freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convent ...

alliance,

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

voters in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

seeking to reform the

two-party A two-party system is a political party system in which two major political parties consistently dominate the political landscape. At any point in time, one of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually referr ...

electoral process at all levels of government. The primary organizing entity for the movement is the Committee for a Unified Independent Party (CUIP), and its Internet presence
independentvoting.org
Their mission is to "develop a movement of independent voters for progressive post-partisan reform of the American political process". , 40% of U.S. adults identify as

History

Although the current independent movement is not a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

, it has its roots in several, the most prominent being the

New Alliance Party The New Alliance Party (NAP) was an American political party formed in New York City in 1979. Its immediate precursor was an umbrella organization known as the Labor Community Alliance for Change, whose member groups included the Coalition of G ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, the brainchild of Fred Newman. The NAP dissolved in 1994, and a number of its members, including Newman and activist

Lenora Fulani Lenora Branch Fulani (born April 25, 1950) is an American psychologist, psychotherapist, and political activist. She is best known for her presidential campaigns and development of youth programs serving minority communities in the New York City ...

joined the

Independence Party of New York state The Independence Party is a political party in the U.S. state of New York. The party was founded in 1991 by Dr. Gordon Black, Tom Golisano, and Laureen Oliver from Rochester, New York, and acquired ballot status in 1994. They lost their ballot s ...

(IPNY), whilst also, along with Jacqueline Salit, starting the Committee for a Unified Independent Party. Many of the CUIP founders were also involved, through various organizations, in the formation of the Reform Party in 1995, an outgrowth of Ross Perot's 1992 Presidential campaign. Members of the CUIP worked with the IPNY to successfully elect

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...

mayor of New York City in 2001, 2005, and 2009, though it is unclear the extent of the participation. It is also unclear if the CUIP has always been anti-party, or if it has evolved this philosophy based on its dealings with the IPNY over the last 15 years. Today, the independent movement has many leading figures in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, and New York City, and it has branched across the country to organize

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

movements under its umbrella.

Current organization

Jacqueline Salit The independent voting movement is a group of progressive, anti-party, left/ center/right alliance, independent voters in the United States seeking to reform the two-party electoral process at all levels of government. The primary organizing entit ...

is the current head of the movement from her position as president of CUIP and independentvoting.org. Nancy Ross is the

secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

and

treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury o ...

of the organization. According to the organization's website:

Affiliate groups

* AL, Independent Alabama * AZ, Arizona Independents * CA, IndependentVoice.org * CT, Independent Party * DE, Independent Party of Delaware * FL, Florida Independentvoting.org * GA, Georgia Independent Voters * GA, iMove * IA, Independent Voters of Iowa * ID, American Independent Movement * IL, United Independents of Illinois * KY, Independent Kentuck
(independentkentucky.org)
* MA, Massachusetts Coalition of Independent Voters * MD, Independent Movement of Maryland * MI, Grand Valley State College Independents * MS, Committee for Open Primaries * NC, North Carolina Independents * NH, New Hampshire Independent Voters *NJ, New Jersey Independent Voters https://www.facebook.com/newjerseyindependentvoters * NV, Independent Voters of Nevada (IVON) * NY, New York City Independence Party * OH, Independent Ohi
(independentohio.org)
* PA,

Independent Pennsylvanians Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independen ...

br>(paindependents.org)
* 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)

References

External links

*{{official Elections in the United States Nonpartisan organizations in the United States Political movements in the United States