Across the United States, traditional political affiliations are shifting as a growing segment of the electorate steps away from major-party labels. Jeremy Gruber, senior vice president at Open Primaries, a national nonpartisan organization dedicated to expanding nonpartisan voter access, highlighted this dramatic evolution in voter registration and the structural hurdles these voters face in the latest episode of The Fulcrum Roundtable.
The decline in major-party allegiance is not temporary but a sustained movement that has been building over several decades.
"Until the 1980s, 90% of voters in this country were part of the Republican and Democratic parties," Gruber explained. "And ever since, the fastest-growing group of voters in this country has been independent voters. Now today, independent voters are 47% of the country in terms of identification."
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Gruber notes that independents now represent "the largest group of voters in 10 states by registration and the second largest group of voters in most others." States like Kentucky exemplify this trend, where "more Kentuckians registered as independents than as Republicans or Democrats combined" during recent registration periods.
According to Gruber, voters are leaving established parties, or not registering with them in the first place, because they're frustrated with polarization and a lack of progress.
"Voters are tired. They're tired of red meat partisan politics. They're tired of the partisanship and polarization that are driving both parties," Gruber said. "They're just tired of the parties not achieving what they are claiming that they're there to achieve, which is progress, right? Which is to make their lives better as voters and as Americans."
He adds that major party platforms have narrowed over time, driving voters to look elsewhere for solutions.
"Both parties had a much larger, more broadly outlooked platforms for a very long time, and both parties' platforms have tended to contract and become much more ideologically focused," Gruber noted. "That has pushed a lot of voters to say, 'Look, there are parts of this party's platform that may appeal to me, and there are parts of this other party's platform that may appeal to me, but one party or the other is not where I live politically anymore.'"
Instead of ideological purity, Gruber emphasizes that "what most Americans want is common sense. They want common-sense answers, common-sense solutions. And neither party is providing that for a lot of Americans, and that's why they're looking for something else."
Despite paying taxes that fund primary elections, millions of independent voters across the country remain barred from participating in closed primaries. However, Gruber argues that party leadership already possesses the legal authority to change those rules without legislative overhauls.
"The Supreme Court has ruled that the political parties have the unilateral right... We have a First Amendment right of association," Gruber pointed out. "Parties are private entities... and the Supreme Court has said either party, Democrat or Republican, can open their primary to independent voters in any state."
While state parties in several jurisdictions have opened their primaries, others remain closed due to internal party dynamics.
"In a lot of places, the leadership of the parties is oftentimes very distanced from the average voter who's a member of that party," Gruber said. "It's much more ideological, and it's much more focused on power and control rather than the simple issues of fundamental fairness... Party leadership has their own interests, and those interests don't necessarily align with opening the primary to voters who are not affiliated with that party."
To bridge that gap and advance election reform, Gruber stresses the importance of grassroots organizing and direct voter storytelling.
"Independent voters in particular in this country are so misunderstood in a widespread way, and everybody puts their fears of the 'other' onto independent voters," Gruber observed. "There's nothing strange about or unusual about them. They're just like everybody else in their community. They just don't want to join a party in order to participate in a public election."
Gruber concluded that achieving nonpartisan access depends on voters demanding equal representation.
"It's only when the voters, independents and party voters alike, put pressure on their party officials and their elected officials that change... is going to start to happen in even more effective ways."
The Fulcrum Roundtable is a program where columnists join for deeper, on‑the‑record discussions about issues shaping American governance and civic participation.
This episode is part of The Fulcrum's partnership with IVN and The Latino News Network to expand voter‑first journalism and strengthen public‑centered coverage of democracy.
Hugo Balta is the executive editor of The Fulcrum and the publisher of the Latino News Network,.
