IVP Talks About Surge of Independent Voters With SD Union Tribune

Last week, independent voter registration surpassed the Republican Party in San Diego County. In the spring of 2018, independents or "NPPs" (no party preference) became the state's second largest political group, behind the Democratic Party.

According to columnist Michael Smolens at the San Diego Union-Tribune:

Nonpartisan elections and improved voter registration forms may be part of what’s driving the independent voter movement. But the major cause and effect seems to be disillusionment with political parties and distrust of government. It’s something voters have been feeling for a while.

Smolens spoke with IVP's co-founder Steve Peace, an author of the nonpartisan top-two primary system which passed in 2010. Smolens wrote that the top-two primary "gave voters less reason to belong to a political party."

Peace said "We’re not about independent candidates. We’re about independent voters." And the nonpartisan voter movement across the nation could be boosted by two particular candidates:

• Steve Poizner, former Republican running as an NPP for California insurance commissioner,
• and Greg Orman, former Democrat and Republican, businessman and independent governor for Kansas.

‍Read the full article where it was originally published on The San Diego Union-Tribune.

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