Independent voter: Difference between revisions

{{Elections}}

An '''independent voter''', often also called an '''unaffiliated voter''' or '''non-affiliated voter''' in the [[United States]], is a [[voting|voter]] who [[Voter registration in the United States#Party affiliation|does not align]] themselves with a [[political party]]. An independent is variously defined as a voter who votes for candidates on issues rather than on the basis of a [[List of political ideologies|political ideology]] or [[Partisan (political)|partisanship]];<ref name="Sorauf">Sorauf and Beck, ''Party Politics in America,'' 1988.</ref> a voter who does not have long-standing loyalty to, or identification with, a [[political parties|political party]];<ref name="Zingale">Flanigan and Zingale, ''Political Behavior of the American Electorate,'' 1988.</ref><ref name="Wolfinger">Wolfinger, "The Promising Adolescence of Campaign Surveys," in ''Campaigns and Elections American Style,'' 1995.</ref> a voter who does not usually vote for the same political party from [[election]] to election;<ref name="Key">Key, ''The Responsible Electorate,'' 1966.</ref><ref>DeVries and Tarrance, ''The Ticket Splitter,'' 1972.</ref> or a voter who self-describes as an independent.<ref name="AmericanVoter">Campbell, Converse, Miller and Stokes, ''The American Voter,'' 1960.</ref>