Political independents have become equal in size to the two major political parties in this country. Unfortunately, the only way you can become an independent in Louisiana is to join an Independent Party and most independent thinkers don’t like political parties.

Although some Louisiana legislators have called themselves independents, many of them have resisted past efforts to give voters that same privilege. The only way you can become an independent in this state is to register “no party.”

Those who have chosen that “no party” registration now total over 658,000 voters, 22% of the 2.96 million voters in the state. There are 1.16 million Democrats (39%) and over 999,000 Republicans (33.7%).

As of July 11, there were 128,671 Independent Party members, 15,761 Libertarian Party members, and 2,499 Green Party members. Those three parties total only 5.3% of the state’s voting population.

Nationwide, Gallup polling in March found that a record 49% of Americans see themselves as politically independent — the same as the two major parties put together.

Axios, an American news website based in Arlington, Virginia, in an April report said, “By far the dominant U.S. party isn’t Democrats or Republicans. It’s: ‘I’ll shop around, thank you.;”

Jeff Jones, an analyst with Gallup, said, “It was never unusual for younger adults to have higher percentages of independents than older adults. What is unusual is that as Gen X (41-56) and millennials (25-40) get older, they are staying independent rather than picking a party, as older generations tended to do.”

“Every election since 2004 — except 2012 — has seen the White House Senate or House flip control,” Axios said. “Antsy, unsatisfied independent voters are the reason.”

OK, so why can’t those voters in Louisiana who don’t want to belong to any party register as independents instead of “no party”?

Richard J. “Rick” Gallot Jr., the president of Grambling State University, was a state representative during the 2011 legislative session and sponsored a bill making revisions to the state election code.

One part of that election code said, “Proposed law would have provided that ‘independent’ instead of ‘no party’ could have been placed on the ballot for a candidate who was not affiliated with any political party.”

The bill passed the House unanimously and the Senate vote was 26-9.

Then-Gov. Bobby Jindal vetoed the bill, saying it was in conflict with existing law. That law said “no political party shall be recognized in this state which declares its name solely to be ‘Independent’ or ‘the Independent Party.’”

Gallot was in the state Senate in 2014 and tried to again help voters who want to be independents without having to join a party. He told me at the time that his legislative colleagues would only accept his legislation if it just removed the prohibition against forming an Independent Party.

WAFB-TV in September of 2018 said the League of  Women Voters had reported that a revised statute officially recognized the Independent Party of Louisiana as a state affiliate of the national organization.

Voters in most states are able to register as independents. There are three independent members of the U.S. Senate, 49 Republicans, and 48 Democrats. The fact that the three independents caucus with the Democrats gives that party control of the Senate.

The three independents are U.S. Sens. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, Angus King of Maine, and Joe Liberman of Connecticut.

A 2019 report by the Pew Research Center said an overwhelming majority of independents continue to “lean” toward either the Republican Party or the Democratic Party. Pollsters often ask those independent voters during election time which way they are leaning — towards Republicans or towards Democrats?

Why do voters become independent? Jeff Jones with Gallup said they are disillusioned with the political system, U.S. institutions, and the two parties, which are seen as ineffectual, too political, and too extreme.

Robbie Hogan, an LSU political scientist who was studying political parties in 2017, told the American Press back then that it’s understandable how people feel. They want another option, he said, because they are tired of voting for the “lesser of two evils,” which often leads to undesirable consequences.

The Current, a nonprofit news organization serving Lafayette and southern Louisiana, talked about the rise of the independent voter in 2019. It said they represent an untapped market and show no signs of slowing.

The number of those who have to register as “no party” in Louisiana has grown, but it’s my guess the numbers would be much higher if they were able to register as independents who don’t belong to any party.