The fastest-growing political party in Louisiana isn’t a party at all, even though it finally has the legal ability to become one. As detailed in a new Business Report feature, voters who consider themselves independent of party are the most rapidly expanding segment of new registrants in the state.
But while it became legal four months ago to form a sixth political party in Louisiana known as the Independent Party, it seems unlikely this late in the game that the Independent designation will be formally organized and adopted on the ballot as a party by the fall 2015 elections. In the meantime, voters so identified declare their designation under “Other” or by registering as “No Party.”
In 2004, the Louisiana Legislature passed a law banning the formation of a formal Independent Party. Candidates not affiliated with any of the five recognized political parties—Democrat, Republican, Libertarians, Green or Reform—were required to be listed on the ballot as “No Party.”
But that all changed in the 2014, when the Legislature gave its nod to a bill authored by state Sen. Rick Gallot, D-Ruston. The Independent Designation Law, or SB 60, allows for a candidate not affiliated with any political party to have the word “Independent” or an abbreviation of “Independent” placed after his name on the ballot, instead of “No Party.” The goal: to allow citizens who are politically independent to run on an election ballot with a designation that reflects their political views.
Of 2.9 million registered voters statewide, 666,368—roughly a quarter—are “No Party” voters, according to data from the Louisiana Secretary of State. Of those “No Party” voters, 50,417 registrants wrote some form of the designation “Independent” on the line specifying “Other” on their ballot.
Registration for the party that isn’t a party is on a fast-track for growth. Consider that prior to the fall 2014 elections, more new voters who registered identified themselves as “Other” than Democrats and Republicans combined. “Other” party registration rose by 18,888, compared to 9,528 new registrants for the Democratic Party and 7,505 for the Republican Party.
The spike in independent voter registration in the state is “exceedingly high and off the reservation of historic data,” Secretary of State Tom Schedler says.
“People are absolutely tired of the bickering of both parties, and they are registering their frustration by either not registering or when they do register, registering aside from the two major parties,” Schedler says.
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