40% of Americans call themselves independent — the largest single political grouping in the country. But gerrymandering and closed primaries combine to freeze them out of meaningful electoral participation at every stage.
Share of Americans who identify as independent — more than either major party.
States with closed or semi-closed primaries that bar independents from the most decisive elections.
Congressional districts already decided — so the party primary is the only election that matters, and independents often can't vote in it.
For the first time in modern polling history, people who identify as independent outnumber both Republicans and Democrats. This isn't political apathy — it's a deliberate rejection of a system that no longer represents the political center.
Source: Gallup Party Identification, 2024 annual average
Independent voters don't face one barrier — they face a system with two interlocking locks that together make their votes all but irrelevant. Neither lock alone would be decisive. Together, they create a near-total exclusion from meaningful political power.
In 26 states, primary elections — which now effectively decide most congressional races — are closed to voters who aren't registered with a major party. An independent voter in New York, Pennsylvania, or Florida cannot vote in the Democratic or Republican primary that will almost certainly determine their representative.
Primary turnout averages 15-20% of eligible voters. The winners of these low-turnout, party-only elections face essentially no real competition in November in safe districts.
Even in the 24 states with open or semi-open primaries, gerrymandering renders the general election irrelevant in 94% of congressional districts. A district drawn to be 65% Republican will elect a Republican regardless of how independent voters cast their ballots.
The general election — the only election independents are guaranteed to participate in — is already decided by the map. Their votes, counted honestly, simply don't matter.
The result: America's largest political group — 40% of voters who identify as independent — has essentially zero representation in Congress. Not one member of the House identifies as independent. Not one senator. The system has been designed, deliberately, to freeze them out.
The exclusion of independent voters isn't accidental. It's the predictable result of a sequence of overlapping structural barriers, each reinforcing the others.
After each census, party-controlled legislatures use sophisticated software to draw maps that concentrate opposition voters and dilute competitive communities. The goal is not representation — it's seat maximization.
The resulting maps produce districts so tilted that the general election is a formality. The winner is determined before a single November vote is cast. This is a designed outcome, not a statistical coincidence.
In a safe seat, the only competitive stage is the primary. Whoever wins the party primary wins the seat. General election challengers are afterthoughts. This means a small, ideologically intense minority — primary voters — selects the representative for everyone.
In 26 states, independent voters are legally prohibited from participating in the primary that will determine the winner. In the remaining states, many independents don't realize they can participate, or face registration hurdles that suppress participation.
Elected officials who survive safe-seat primaries have no incentive to moderate, compromise, or represent independent voters. Their electoral survival depends entirely on satisfying the ideological base that votes in primaries — a base that is consistently more extreme than the public at large.
Texas is a genuinely divided state. Statewide elections are competitive. The state's three largest cities — Houston, Dallas, and Austin — are solidly Democratic. The suburban counties surrounding them are increasingly competitive. Yet Republicans hold 66% of congressional seats on 56% of the vote.
The reason: the 2021 maps surgically divided every major urban center. Austin — 73% Democratic — is split into six congressional districts, each anchored in surrounding conservative rural areas. The city's voters are individually assigned to six different Republican incumbents. Their collective political voice, which should produce two or three Democratic seats, is reduced to zero.
For the state's 38% independent voters, the outcome is complete irrelevance. They cannot vote in closed Republican primaries. They cannot swing general elections because the districts are so skewed. In the 2022 cycle, not one of Texas's 38 congressional races was decided by fewer than 10 points. In a competitive democracy, most of them should have been decided by 5 points or fewer.
Polling consistently shows that independent voters — precisely the group most harmed by the current system — are also its most vocal critics and the strongest supporters of structural reform.
Source: Democracy Fund Voter Study Group; YouGov/Economist polling 2024
The decline of competitive congressional seats is not random. It tracks directly with each redistricting cycle, accelerating as software improves. The political middle — where most independent voters live — has been systematically eliminated.
Competitive seats in the 1990s
Competitive seats after 2000 redistricting
Competitive seats today
Independent members of the House
Incumbent re-election rate in safe seats
Americans who want a major third party
Independent voters are the largest political group in America — and the least represented in Congress. The 28th Amendment is specifically designed to give every voter, regardless of party, a representative who fights for them.
40% of Americans shouldn't be locked out of democracy. Sign the petition demanding independent redistricting commissions — and open primaries — in every state.