American Independent Party
The American Independent Party (AIP) is a political party in the United States founded in 1968.[4] The party experienced a split in 1976, resulting in the formation of the American Party and the continuation of the American Independent Party. The AIP was affiliated with the national Constitution Party from 1992 to 2008. A leadership dispute occurred within the AIP during the 2008 election cycle following its disaffiliation from the Constitution Party.
Not to be confused with Independent voter, Independent politician, The American Independent, Independence Party of America, Independent Party of Oregon, or United States Independence Party.
American Independent Party
Marc Ang
Bill Shearer
Eileen Knowland Shearer
July 8, 1967
476 Deodara St.
Vacaville, California 95688
America's Party[3]
"No North, No South, No East, No West - One Great Nation, Heaven Blessed!"
California membership issues[edit]
In 2016, approximately 3% of California's 17.2 million voters were registered with the American Independent Party (AIP), ranking it as the third-largest political party in the state by registration, following the Democratic (43%) and Republican (28%) parties and those who registered as "no party preference" (24%).[20]
However, it has long been proposed by political analysts that the party, which has received very few votes in recent California elections, maintains its state ballot status because people join the American Independent Party mistakenly believing that they are registering as "independent" voters.[21][22]
A 2016 Los Angeles Times investigation suggested that a significant number of voters registered with the AIP may have done so under the misconception that they were registering as independent, unaffiliated voters, which is officially designated as "no party preference" in California. A poll of voters registered with the AIP indicated that a majority may not have intended to register with the party. The investigation highlighted potential confusion caused by the party's name.[2][20]
A 2016 poll conducted of California voters registered with the AIP showed that 73% identify themselves as "no affiliation" and 3% identify themselves as "undecided."[20] Upon learning the AIP platform, 50% of registered AIP voters wanted to leave the AIP.[20] A Times review of voting records revealed a wide array of Californians have fallen victim to this error, including celebrities such as Sugar Ray Leonard, Demi Moore, Emma Stone, and Kaley Cuoco.[20] Similarly, in 2008, Jennifer Siebel, then-fiancée of San Francisco's former Democratic mayor Gavin Newsom, attempted to change her party affiliation from Republican to unaffiliated, but "checked the American Independent box thinking that was what independent voters were supposed to do."[23]
This confusion results in accidentally registered AIP members being unable to vote in presidential primary elections and, in prior years, in all partisan primary elections other than those of the AIP.[21][20] A number of California registrars of voters had expressed concern over the confusion that the party's name causes.[20] Kim Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation, said that the California voter form was "confusing and somewhat misleading."[2] However, since the advent of the "top-two" blanket primary in California in 2012, all voters may participate in non-presidential primary elections where nominations for public office are to be made. Presidential nominations and elections of members of party county central committees are still restricted to voters registered in the party where such contests are held, but a party may choose to allow voters with No Party Preference to vote in their presidential primary.[24] In addition, voters are able to re-register to the party of their choosing on election day via election day registration, mitigating the issue further.[25]
As of 2016, approximately 3% of California's 17.2 million voters were registered with the American Independent Party (AIP), ranking it as the third-largest political party in the state by registration, following the Democratic and Republican parties and those registered with "no party preference."