In 2023, the political climate we face can seem messy, confusing, or hard to face at times, especially if you hope to be an Independent voter. Independent voters make up 28.55% of the total registered voters within the United States, however, actually seeing a candidate running as an Independent winning a major office has become somewhat of a rarity in the 21st century–recently some of the most notable names are Evan McMullin who ran for Senate in 2022 and who can forget the Bull Moose himself, Teddy Roosevelt in the 20th century. 

A popular phrase that gets thrown around whenever a state or federal election comes up is that even for registered Independents, voting for an Independent or third-party candidate is a “waste of a vote.” Is this really true? If so, does that mean voting for an Independent is possible? 

Despite the large number of registered Independents nationally, in some states, Independent candidates rarely make the ballot. Here in Ohio, the hurdles that Independent candidates have and the qualifications they must meet just to make the ballot at all makes Independent representation in the state almost non-existent. This year, Shean Freeman and his congressional campaign for the Ohio 11th District is the first time many Ohioans in that district will see an Independent candidate on the ballot.

According to data found on Ballotpedia, to run for senator in Ohio the majority party needs 1,000 total signatures to make the ballot, while any minority party candidate only needs 500 signatures. However, for someone hoping to run as unaffiliated (as a candidate who does not belong to any party), candidates need 5,000 signatures, five times the vote total that the majority party needs and ten times the amount any minority party needs. 

Similar to other offices that represent Ohio–such as the House of Representatives–the majority party needs 1,000 signatures and any minority party needs 500 signatures, but anyone running as an unaffiliated candidate needs signatures from one percent of the total voters from the previous in order to get on the ballot. This might not sound like a lot at face value, but one percent is more than you might think when talking about the total number of votes, and if nothing else just makes the process more complicated than it needs to be. 

At the national level, we see similar trends. In states such as Texas, Democrats and Republicans need somewhere between 4500-5000 signatures to make the presidential ballot, while someone as of 2023 who wants to make the ballot as an Independent needs more than 113,000 signatures, a no-easy task. 

The requirements to make the ballot for unaffiliated candidates change and become more or less confusing between states, which often leads to Independent candidates not being able to make the ballot at all in some places, once presidential election season rolls around. One seemingly consistent trend is that Independent candidates have more hoops to jump through, both locally and nationally, to make the ballot with much fewer resources to do so. 

The administrative loopholes in place make it extremely difficult or nearly impossible for Independent candidates to make the ballot. The administrative issues combined with the fact that even if they do, often they are not invited to the debate stage or given even close to the same resources, has created the conditions that have led to the political climate of wanting to vote Independently today. 

So, to answer the above question of if voting for an Independent or third-party candidate is actually a “waste of a vote,” the answer is a reluctant and unfortunate “yes” in the United States today. 

While Independent voters make up a strong percentage of the total registered voters in the United States, many tend to still lean toward a particular party anyway. According to research done by Pew Research Center in 2019, over 81 percent of Independent voters “lean” towards a particular party, while only 7% declined to identify as leaning towards one party or the other. 

A June 2023 recurring Gallup poll that collects data on party affiliation found that 45 percent, a majority of respondents, identified as an Independent voter, however, 45 percent of those who identified as Independent also responded that they lean Republican, and an additional 42 percent responded that they lean toward the Democrats.

If one is going to lean toward one of the two major parties anyway, why register as an Independent? It seems many Americans wish to be able to vote on the issues instead of the party, hence why so many choose to be Independent voters. 

However, the system is set up to make running as an Independent so difficult, mixed with the fact that Americans are constantly told that voting anywhere other than Democrat or Republican is a “waste of a vote,” and therefore Independents feel pressured to continually vote one way or the other, regardless. Americans are conditioned to believe from the moment we are born to the moment we cast our first ballot that we only have two choices, or at least that we only have two choices that matter. 

John Carroll University student Tate Farinacci commented that “I feel being issue-based and independent is being lost on most young Americans. We are caught in the whirlwind of party politics and polarization. Independent candidates can break that notion and usher in real change if they need.” Farinacci makes an important point, that being independent does mean the same thing as being a registered independent.

Being an independent voter does not mean one has to vote exclusively for Independent or third-party candidates. It should mean however that those who identify as such should not feel pressured to vote for any particular party. As the American political environment continues to become more and more polarized, the pressure to “pick a side” will become further emphasized, particularly with Independent voters. 

This moment is a great opportunity for all voters, whether Independent or not, to take a step back and ask themselves what they are really looking for from their candidates this election cycle. Just remember that there are always more than two choices on a ballot, and confidence in your choice outweighs any statistic.