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Local leaders for the Republican and Democrat parties said not wanting to be labeled as one of those, or just not knowing that's how they were registered from another state, explains the high number of No Party Affiliation (NPA) voters in Osceola County.
With Osceola County’s percentage of No Party Affiliation or independent voters leading Florida, local Democratic and Republican leaders weighed in on the tally and on reaching out to the base.
According to the Florida Division of Elections, Osceola led the state with 34.9 percent unaffiliated voters as of June 30.
Unlike Democrats or Republicans, voters registered with no party affiliation (NPA) are not eligible to vote for partisan candidates in a primary election unless a Universal Primary Contest (UPC) occurs. A UPC is when all candidates for an office have the same party affiliation and the winner will have no opposition in the election.
Why the high number of independent voters in Osceola?
Mark Cross, chairman of the Osceola Republican Executive Committee, speculated that some voters just might not know their status has been changed. New registered voters and people moving to Florida sometimes might be inked as NPAs when they have to apply for a state driver’s license at the Department of Motor Vehicles. People can register to vote in Florida at any office that issues a driver’s license or identification card. He’s heard of Republicans who have had their voting status changed in that instance.
“A lot of people don’t realize they are NPAs, that’s my guess,” Cross said.
Steven Wells, chairman of the Osceola Democratic Executive Committee, had a different take.
“NPA I think is a catchall for people who (aren’t yet) part of the process, but want to feel like they are. I first registered in 2000 when I turned 18 as an independent for those same reasons, despite all my family being registered Democrats. I didn’t want the weight of the label, of putting that on myself. And with Osceola being a very young county demographically, I think that heavily plays a part,” Wells said.
Are the main two parties reaching out to independents?
Cross said the Republican party does try to connect with independent voters at community events and by knocking on doors in an attempt to sway them to its political favor.
“We always reach out to NPAs. That’s how you win and lose elections,” Cross said.
Wells said the Democratic party is implementing data tools to reach out and identify blue-leaning NPA voters.
“So what the party has to do and has already started is showing that you have even more choice as a Democrat as you’ll be able to fully anticipate in primaries as Florida is a closed primary,” said Wells. “We also have to improve the party’s image and make it more relatable so people do feel comfortable attaching themselves to the name.”
Recent state numbers show that 3,911,131 Florida voters were registered without party affiliations. The Osceola County Supervisor of Elections’ website (VoteOsceola.gov) last week showed 79,802 Democrats, 55,320 Republicans and 77,841 “others” among the nearly 213,000 registered voters.
Osceola (34.9 percent), Miami-Dade (32.4), Orange (31.5) and Seminole (30.7) have the highest percentages of unaffiliated voters, according to the Florida Division of Elections.
