An
independent voter, often called an
unaffiliated voter in the
United States, is a voter who does not align him or herself with a political party. An independent is variously defined as a
voter who votes for candidates and issues rather than on the basis of a
political ideology or
partisanship; a voter who does not have long-standing loyalty to, or identification with, a
political party; a voter who does not usually vote for the same political party from
election to election; or a voter who self-describes as an independent.