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Which states have the highest percentage of independent voters in 2025?
Executive Summary
State-level data and recent summaries disagree on exact rankings, but the strongest, converging evidence points to Massachusetts, Alaska, and Rhode Island as among the states with the highest shares of voters registered as independents (no party preference) in 2025. Multiple 2025 summaries and a late‑2022 baseline list different top states and percentages, reflecting patchy state reporting, methodological differences (which registrants are counted and when), and the fact that some states do not collect party affiliation at all; these issues make any single definitive ranking tentative [1] [2].
1. Bold claims extracted — Who said what and how loudly
The analyzed materials make three central claims about independent voters: that independents constitute roughly 30–32% of registered voters in states that report party data in 2025, that the share of unaffiliated voters has grown substantially since 2000, and that specific states—Massachusetts, Alaska, and Rhode Island—appear repeatedly near the top of state rankings in 2025 estimates [3] [4] [1]. A 2025 snapshot reported 32% unaffiliated across dozens of jurisdictions and long‑term growth nearly nine percentage points since 2000, highlighting a clear national trend toward nonaffiliation [4]. Separate datasets cite higher single‑state percentages: Massachusetts reported a 64.8% independent share in an August 2025 summary, Alaska 62.1%, and Rhode Island 49.7%—figures that exceed earlier 2022 baselines and therefore suggest notable upward movement or reporting differences [1].
2. Divergent snapshots — Why 2022 lists differ from 2025 tallies
A 2022 baseline table compiled from 31 reporting states listed Alaska, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island among the high‑independent states but with lower percentages than later 2025 summaries—Alaska at 58.08% and Massachusetts at 60.17% as of October 2022—implying either actual increases or differences in who was included as “independent” [2]. The 2025 reports claim higher rates—Massachusetts ~64.8%, Alaska ~62.1%—and add states like Colorado and Connecticut into broader lists of states with sizable independent blocs, suggesting that time, updated rolls, and more comprehensive reporting changed the landscape between 2022 and 2025 [2] [1]. Methodological variation is key: some sources aggregate “no party preference” with other third‑party and independent labels, while others exclude states that do not collect party data; that inconsistency inflates apparent growth and ranking volatility [3] [4].
3. The politics behind the numbers — agendas, gaps, and what is omitted
The sources combine raw registration tallies with interpretive commentary, and readers should note potential agendas: some summaries emphasize the political significance of independents for competitive states ahead of elections, while other reports frame growth in unaffiliated registration as a long‑term decline of party identification, which can feed narratives supportive of reform or anti‑establishment messaging [3] [4]. Important omissions include states that do not record party affiliation (e.g., open‑primary or nonregistration systems) and counties or monthly fluctuations not captured in annual snapshots; both omissions skew national comparisons and can systematically undercount independent shares in certain jurisdictions [3] [5]. The result is that apparent increases in independent registration can reflect reporting artifacts rather than pure voter realignment.
4. Where the sources agree — the core, defensible findings
Across the analyses, the defensible core is consistent: independent or no‑party‑preference registrants make up roughly three in ten registered voters in reporting states as of 2025, and Massachusetts and Alaska repeatedly appear at the top of state rankings in both 2022 baselines and 2025 updates [3] [1]. Multiple August 2025 summaries converge on Massachusetts (~64.8%) and Alaska (~62.1%) as extremes, and Rhode Island is commonly listed among the higher‑independent states though with a lower share than those two—around the high‑40s to low‑50s in 2025 snapshots [1]. These cross‑checks reduce the likelihood that any single outlier source is solely driving the conclusion.
5. Bottom line and what remains uncertain for precise rankings
The best answer for “which states have the highest percentage of independent voters in 2025” is that Massachusetts and Alaska are the top two, followed by Rhode Island and a small cluster that includes Colorado and Connecticut depending on the dataset, but precise percentages and rank order vary by source and date [1] [3]. The principal uncertainties are state reporting cadences, definitional differences (who counts as independent or no‑party‑preference), and nonreporting states; these factors mean any definitive numerical ranking requires consulting each state’s official registration rolls at a specific date. For policymakers or analysts needing an exact, auditable list for 2025, the next step is to pull contemporaneous state registration summaries from each secretary of state or official registrar and reconcile label definitions month by month.