How Many Registered Independent Voter
How Many 'Independents' Are There in America?
August 1, 2019/ Public Higher Ed/
Is 'Independent' really America'southward political amalgamation of choice? It's a dicey question.
The question–How many political Independents are there in America?–doesn't have a definitive answer. That's because answers follow unlike routes–from self-reports and from voter registration records, primarily, and each information source is different and express. Here'southward why and how.
SELF-REPORTS
For self-reporting of political preference, the Gallup system asks the same question multiple times a twelvemonth and, then, reports what information technology finds—Democrat, Republican, and Contained. Discover those data hither. Here's a summary:
GALLUP (median results of twelve polls, January-July 2019):
Republicans 27%
Democrats 29.v%
Contained twoscore.5%
Pew Enquiry also collects self-report data. Based on its enquiry, Pew concludes that 93% of Independents are 'leaners,' that is, they either lean Democrat or Republican. The other seven% (the 'Independent Independents') tend to avert politics. For more than info, become hither. Hither's a summary:
PEW (from March 2019):
Republicans 26% with Repubs+Leaners=39%
Democrats 31% with Dems+Leaners=48%
Independents 37% (with No-Lean Independents 7%).
VOTER REGISTRATIONS
Only 31 states crave registrants to identify party preference when they register to vote. Consequently, there isn't an answer to the question of how many U.S. voters–in total–are Independent.
For instance, I alive role of the year in Michigan and part of the year in Florida. Michigan is ane of the 19 states that doesn't require party preference as function of the voter registration procedure. Florida does.
Here's what I found for Florida. Independents are the fastest-growing political preference among the state's registered voters (+47% from 2004-2014). I also constitute that Independents are 27% of FL'southward registered voters (every bit of June thirty, 2019). Democrats come in at 37%, and Republicans register at 35%. The number of FL Independents is large—over 3.half-dozen million registered voters.
For a summary of what's happening in other states, I recommend reviewing data presented in the June 2019 issue of Governing.
For a 31-state profile, Ballot Access News is a proficient information source. According to BAN, the national moving picture–specifically for 62% of united states that annals voters by amalgamation–looks like this:
Democrats 40%
Republicans thirty%
Independents + Minor Parties, 30%.
Rasmussen News is another good source of voter registration data. Rasmussen'south data i)reports the U.Southward. total, 2) breaks downwards the numbers state-by-country, and 3) adds the Commune of Columbia to the totals. What practice the 31-country + DC numbers tell us? The breakdown looks similar this:
Democrat xl%
Republican 29%
Independent 28%
Other 2%.
Co-ordinate to Rasmussen, there are 111 1000000 registered voters in those 32 jurisdictions. 31.5 meg voters registered as Independent.
Some other interesting feature of Rasmussen's reporting is that it identifies which registered political amalgamation ranks #one amid registered voters in each of the 31 states and in the District. The 32-jurisdictional breakdown goes like this:
Democrat #ane N=xiv
Republican #ane N=8
Independent #1 Due north=x.
TAKEAWAY Message
The two data sources–self-reporting and voter registration–aren't the same. Rather than pick one source 'as gospel,' hither's a third selection: When you study the size of "Independent America" e'er provide source information regarding the percentage/number you written report. Demand the same approach from others.
Don't depression-ball or high-ball the numbers!
________________
Frank A. Fright is professor emeritus. Michigan State University. He writes virtually independent politics at LA Progressive.
Source: https://futureu.education/uncategorized/how-many-independents-are-there-in-america/
Posted by: lynchthouthe1935.blogspot.com
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