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Fact check: Which states have the most independent voters registered in 2025?
Executive Summary
As of 2025 reporting across multiple outlets, state-level growth in registered independents is concentrated in a handful of states—notably North Carolina, West Virginia, Colorado, and Pennsylvania—where registration data and implementation of policies like automatic registration correlate with rising unaffiliated shares; however, no single provided source offers a comprehensive, ranked list of states by total registered independents for 2025, so the claim that these states “have the most” must be read as a snapshot of notable growth rather than a definitive nationwide ranking [1] [2] [3]. The reporting points to divergent causes—political realignment, administrative changes, and generational shifts—each emphasized differently across sources [4] [5].
1. Why several outlets highlight North Carolina and West Virginia as bellwethers of unaffiliated growth
Reporting identifies North Carolina and West Virginia as states with dramatic percentage increases in independents over extended periods: North Carolina’s share of registered independents and third-party members has more than doubled since 2000, while West Virginia’s share reportedly more than tripled, framing these states as examples of voters breaking with the two-party model rather than a literal count of who has the largest number of independents in 2025 [1]. These pieces emphasize historical change over raw totals, which can magnify percentage growth in smaller populations; the sources thus spotlight trends rather than delivering a sorted state-by-state roster [1].
2. Colorado’s unaffiliated uptick and what reporters emphasize about party decline
Colorado reporting frames a 3.1% growth in unaffiliated voters during 2025 alongside declines in both major-party registrations, portraying a voter choice to “opt out” of formal party labels; the coverage interprets the movement as contemporaneous and policy-relevant, but it does not directly compare Colorado’s unaffiliated headcount to other states to confirm it ranks at the very top nationally [2]. The narrative underscores shifting party allegiance and suggests that local political dynamics—such as candidate appeal and issue salience—may be driving registrants toward unaffiliated status rather than signaling an identical dynamic everywhere [2] [6].
3. Pennsylvania shows administrative effects—automatic registration boosting independents
Pennsylvania’s reporting links a 38% increase in new registrants after automatic voter registration implementation to a surge in independent identifications, presenting a clear mechanism—policy change—behind increased unaffiliated registration rather than purely cultural realignment [3]. This source thereby raises an important caveat: high growth in independent registrations can reflect administrative expansions of the voter rolls and the demographics of newly registered cohorts, not only ideological shifts away from parties, which complicates claims about which states “have the most” independent voters in absolute terms [3].
4. National context: independent identification is rising, but definitions and measurements vary
National analyses in the dataset report that about one-third of registered voters were unaffiliated in 2025, with independents surpassing Democrats in some 2024 voting metrics and showing diverse ideological mixes; however, the sources also note that polls classify independents into multiple types—Democratic lookalikes, Republican lookalikes, and others—meaning that the label “independent” encompasses heterogenous groups and complicates one-dimensional rankings by state [1] [5]. The reporting underscores that identification is not the same as partisan behavior, limiting the utility of a simple “most independents” headline.
5. Methodological gaps the sources reveal: growth versus absolute totals and timing
Across the provided pieces, there is a consistent methodological gap: reports emphasize percentage growth or recent increases without producing a uniform, contemporaneous table ranking states by absolute unaffiliated registrations in 2025, making cross-source comparisons imprecise [1] [2] [3]. Journalistic accounts focus on political implications and proximate causes—realignment, policy changes, generational shifts—so readers should treat state-by-state growth stories as illustrative rather than exhaustive when asked which states have the most independents by count [4] [1].
6. Competing narratives and potential agendas in the coverage
The sources frame independent growth differently: some stress party abandonment and polarization fatigue, others highlight administrative reforms like automatic registration, and national outlets emphasize electoral consequences such as ticket-splitting; these framings reveal potential agendas—advocacy for election reforms, narratives of political realignment, or media emphasis on electoral drama—which shape which states are spotlighted and why [1] [3] [4]. Readers should note that percentage-focused stories can be used to signal crisis or renewal depending on outlet aims, and that each source’s date and emphasis affect how persuasive its claim appears [2] [6].
7. Bottom line and what’s missing to answer “which states have the most” definitively
The available reporting identifies North Carolina, West Virginia, Colorado, and Pennsylvania as notable cases of unaffiliated growth in 2025, supported by percentage increases and policy links, but none of the supplied sources supplies a definitive ranked list of states by absolute numbers of registered independents for 2025; thus the correct, evidence-based conclusion is that these states are prominent examples of growth, not necessarily the top states by raw totals, and resolving that latter question requires a consolidated, contemporaneous dataset that the current sources do not provide [1] [2] [3].