CUIP is motivating, training and supporting an activist network of independent leaders who are building throughout the country.
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AL, Independent Alabama
AZ, Prima Independent Voters & Pinal County Independent Voters
CA, IndependentVoice.Org
CO, Colorado Independent Voters
CT, Connecticut for Lieberman
CT, Independent Party
DC, District of Columbia Independents for Citizen Control
FL, Sunshine Independents
GA, Georgia Committee of 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, Free State Independents
ME, Committee for an Independent Voice
NC, Greater Hickory Metro Independent Committee
NC, Independents for Change
NJ, Committee for an Independent New Jersey
NV, Nevada Independents
NY, Independence Party
OH, Independent Voters Alliance (OHIVA)
OR, Committee for an Independent Voice
PA, Independent Pennsylvanians
SC, Independence Party of South Carolina
SD, South Dakota Voice of Independents
TN, Tennessee Independent Voters
TX, Independent Texans
UT, Utah League of Independent Voters
WI, Wisconsin Group for an Independent Voice (WiGiv)
Independent Wayne Griffin wins re-election to the Greer City Council in landslide. Pictured left: Ayana, Wayne, Ronald, Reggie and Butch Griffin (standing) celebrate the results of Tuesday night’s election. Wayne Griffin beat out Gary Cain 352 to 45 votes in the District 2 race.
Sign the Open Primary Letter to President Barack Obama. 33 states have open primaries in which independents can vote. 18 states do not. Were it not for open primaries, Obama would not have won the Democratic nomination. Join thousands in asking President Obama to take concrete steps to protect and expand open primaries. Sign the letter online.
National Conf. 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 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 that 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 in which they want to run. The parties can waive the requirement for any new registrant who seeks access to the ballot, but indies are subject to it. Riddle filed a lawsuit challenging the law; she also turned to State Representative Kathleen Curry (bottom left), then the Speaker Pro Tem of the House, asking her to sponsor legislation that would level the playing field. Curry realized that she was an independent at heart and re-registered as an indy too! Together they’re working to undo the anti-independent bias of state election law, while earning praise on the editorial pages of newspapers around the state for their political courage and independence. Read the Denver Post editorial
Thanks to Independent Kentucky, a victory for open primaries is in sight. In 2008, Independent Kentucky activists impressed state legislators by collecting 80 signatures in a few days on a petition supporting the open primaries legislation sponsored by then state representative Jimmy Higdon. Click here for an account in the Frankfort Journal. In 2009, IK again rallied indies – this time to vote for Higdon in a special election for the state senate; he won the race, and early in January of this year promptly re-introduced his open primaries bill in the senate. Hear Lewis on WKJK 1080 being interviewed about Independent Kentucky, the Higdon victory, and the road to open primaries. And check out Independent Kentucky's new website.
Independents enlist the speaker pro tem of AL House of Representatives in the campaign for an independent on the FEC. At the request of Bob Friedman (on right), the founder and chair of the Alabama Independent Movement (AIM), Representative Demetrius Newton (center), the speaker pro tem of the Alabama House of Representatives, sent a letter to President Obama in which he wrote: “I believe that the time has come to appoint one or more independents to the Federal Election Commission. I hope that you will do so.”
Georgia Independents Endorse Kaseem Reed. Georgia Independent Voters (GIV), a state-based association representing independent voters, endorsed Kasim Reed for mayor of the City of Atlanta. GIV’s endorsement came as a result of candidate screening sessions and numerous dialogues over the course of the summer. Read more
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. Read more
Independent Pennslyvanians. The controversial subject of open primaries was in the news with a Point/Counter Point discussion in the Morning Call featuring T.J. Rooney, chair of the state Democratic Party and Barry Kaufmann, Exec. Dir. of Common Cause. It precipitated a follow up letter to the editor by Independent Pennsylvanians leader Mark Balsam. Rep. Eugene DePasquale's [D-York] press release announcing legislation in support of open primaries makes note of Independent Pennsylvanians' role in building momentum for the issue.
More than half of Utah voters (51.5%) consider themselves independent. To give voice to their concerns, the Utah League of Independent Voters (ULIV) has set up a website and is participating in a redistricting initiative sponsored by Fair Boundaries. One hundred and ten thousand signatures are required to get the initiative on the ballot. Randy Miller leads the group.
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. Click here to read “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
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.
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.
Monthly phon-a-thon at the offices of CUIP.
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Paul & Kathleen Ellis
Connecticut
"Senator Joe Leiberman's latest political move is adding insult to injury for many Independent voters in CT. By endorsing John McCain, the staunchest defender of the war in Iraq, Lieberman is once again repudiating the position of the majority of Independent voters who want to end the war. But Lieberman is no Independent-he grabbed the Independent lifeline to save his career after losing the Democratic primary. Independents are a mixed bag, but we do come together on a few major issues-ending the war, fighting political corruption, and creating a voice for the 35% of American voters who are sick and tired of the partisan politics of both parties. In our opinion, Lieberman does not represent this constituency."
