Independent
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In politics, an independent is an individual not affiliated with a political party. The following terms may be used synonymously with independent: non-party, unenrolled, and unaffiliated. An independent political candidate or voter may choose not to affiliate with a political party because no existing party reflects his or her viewpoints. In some cases, an independent candidate may associate in some way with a political party (for example, as a voter in a party's primary elections) but opt not to run under that party's label.[1][2]
The term independent should not be confused with nonpartisan, which is a term used by some government agencies, such as the Federal Election Commission and the Internal Revenue Service, to describe groups or individuals that do not expressly support one political party or candidate over another. The term nonpartisan may also be used to describe elections in which the candidates do not run with partisan labels.[3][4][5][6]
See also
- Nonpartisan
- Partisan affiliations of registered voters
- List of political parties in the United States
Footnotes
- ↑ IndependentVoting.org, "What It Means To Be Independent," accessed September 5, 2017
- ↑ NDN, "Independent Does Not Mean Nonpartisan Or Non-Ideological," March 19, 2010
- ↑ Pitt.edu, "Party Identification and Vote Choice in Partisan and Nonpartisan Elections," accessed May 1, 2014
- ↑ National League of Cities, "Partisan vs. Nonpartisan Elections," accessed May 1, 2014
- ↑ Merriam-Webster, "Nonpartisan," accessed August 11, 2016
- ↑ Internal Revenue Service, "The Restriction of Political Campaign Intervention by Section 501(c)(3) Tax-Exempt Organizations," accessed August 11, 2016
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