This newspaper story from the Sunshine State News, about Florida’s ballot-qualified parties, is unusually informative. It lists all 30 of the minor parties, and also provides the name of the party’s chair, and tells how many registered voters each has, and whether it has any candidates this year (most of them don’t).
Thanks for posting this, Richard. And cheers to Kenric
Ward, who has written a valuable article on the minor
parties of a state (relatively) congenial to minor parties.
Yes, Kenric Ward did a great story on Florida’s 3rd parties, but he – like some others – has been beguiled into believing most members of the Independent Party are people who mistakenly believe they’re registering “no party” or even “non-partisan.”
Ward should have researched a little more. I think he would have learned when most people go to the county Supervisor of Elections’ office to register to vote, and when asked by an official in that office, “which party?” and the prospective voter responds “Independent”, most of those election officials further inquire” do you mean “no party” or “Independent Party?”
I think the average voter knows the difference between “no party” or non-partisan” and “Independent.” And when they hear the word “party” in conjunction with the word “Independent,” they know it is a party. They may not know what the party stands for, but they know it is not the Republican Party or the Democratic Party. Ward should have also discovered over 1 million voters DO know the difference between “no party” and “Independent Party” and this is why they are registered as “No Party.”
Just as the members of the Independent Party know they obviously don’t want to be “no party,” they also know they don’t want to be “Libertarian,” “Constitution,” “Green” or one of the remainder of the 30 parties recognized by the Florida Secretary of State.
The Independent Party in Florida is going to be the 3rd party in this state in due time. It is an “evolutionary” party, growing naturally, as more and more people are fed up with the 2 major parties, but who likewise feel most of the other 3rd parties have names which paint them as too narrow-based, radical, or too kooky.
Thanks again to Kenric Ward for a good story.
I do think that people who see themselves as independent probably do check the box thinking they are registering no party. I’ve met people in California who registered as a Libertarian just to be registered even though they didn’t know what the party stood for. Most people probably think of themselves as independents but don’t think of checking the no-party box. California may have a large numbers of people who registered to the Independent party, but those same people don’t vote for their candidates, so we can assume they were checking the wrong box.