A Times Investigation Are you an independent voter? You aren't if you checked this box The American Independent Party is California’s largest third party. A poll shows 73% may be in it by mistake. Are you one of them? With nearly half a million registered members, the American Independent Party is bigger than all of California's other minor parties combined. The ultraconservative party's platform opposes abortion rights and same sex marriage, and calls for building a fence along the entire United States border. Based in the Solano County home of one of its leaders, the AIP bills itself as “The Fastest Growing Political Party in California." But a Times investigation has found that a majority of its members have registered with the party in error. Nearly three in four people did not realize they had joined the party, a survey of registered AIP voters conducted for The Times found. That mistake could prevent people from casting votes in the June 7 presidential primary, California's most competitive in decades. Voters from all walks of life were confused by the use of the word “independent” in the party’s name, according to The Times analysis. Residents of rural and urban communities, students and business owners and top Hollywood celebrities with known Democratic leanings — including Sugar Ray Leonard, Demi Moore and Emma Stone — were among those who believed they were declaring that they preferred no party affiliation when they checked the box for the American Independent Party. Times poll finds 3 in 4 didn't know How AIP members identify themselves AIP members’ preferred registration after hearing party platform The survey of 500 AIP California members was conducted by telephone Feb. 9–11. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.4 percentage points. Sources: Smith Johnson Research, Tulchin Research | Credit: Angelica Quintero / @latimesgraphics “I just blew it,” said Deborah Silva, 64, of Point Arena in Mendocino County. “There were a number of choices. I just checked the box that said ‘independent.’” Silva said she left the Democratic Party after being at her “wit’s end” from the deluge of mail, phone calls and other campaign paraphernalia from Democrats trying to win her vote. While California's top-two primary system allows people to vote for any candidate, regardless of party, presidential primaries have different rules. Republicans have a closed primary this year. Democrats will allow voters registered as having “no party preference” — the state’s formal term for an unaffiliated, independent voter — to cast a ballot. But a voter registered with the American Independent Party will only be allowed to vote for presidential candidates on the AIP ballot. “And now, I’m going to have to tell them,” said Jill LaVine, Sacramento County’s registrar of voters. “And this is going to hit them hard.” The American Independent Party's roots date back to 1967 when George Wallace, a segregationist, launched his ​second​ run for the White House. Wallace, ​who had run as a Democrat in 1964, helped create the new party and ran on its ticket.​ Today, that party exists only in California. "We’re not segregationist anymore,” said Markham Robinson, who serves as chairman of the American Independent Party’s executive committee. “What we are now is a conservative, constitutionalist party.” How George Wallace built a party from nothing Segregationist George Wallace ran for president on the American Independent Party ticket. (oldpoliticals.com) At 3% of the state's 17.2 million registered voters, Robinson's party is still vastly outnumbered by Democrats (43%), Republicans (28%) and those stating "no party preference" (24%). Even so, elections officials have watched the AIP ranks grow while quietly voicing suspicions that much of it was due to error, not enthusiasm. “I think the name should be something different,” said Gail Pellerin, Santa Cruz County’s registrar of voters. “Right now, it’s misleading.” “I had a voter totally break down and cry in my lobby,” Pellerin added, recalling a young woman who wanted to vote in the 2008 Democratic primary between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, but couldn’t because she'd registered with the American Independent Party. “The poor thing just sobbed,” Pellerin said. “It’s very frustrating.” Other elections officials – from Shasta County to San Diego – offered similar stories. AIP leaders expressed skepticism about The Times findings, but also offered regret. “I’m just sorry that people get confused,” said Mark Seidenberg of Aliso Viejo, the party’s chairman. “A lot of people just don’t understand what they’re doing when they fill out a form.” Of the 500 AIP voters surveyed by a bipartisan team of pollsters, fewer than 4% could correctly identify their own registration as a member of the American Independent Party. “That’s what we call a finding with real statistical viability,” said Ben Tulchin, a Democratic pollster who helped craft the survey in collaboration with The Times and Republican pollster Val Smith. “It’s overwhelming and it’s indisputable.” Tulchin has done polling for Sen. Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign and Smith's firm has done polling of California Republican voters on their presidential preferences. No data from this poll, conducted on a pro-bono basis for The Times, was shared with any campaigns.

Are you a member of the American Independent Party? Find out now using California’s voter registration database.

After being asked questions about their registration, voters were read a series of statements from the American Independent Party’s official platform, a combination of specific and broad political beliefs. It calls for abiding by duties given to “all men” by “the God they are commanded to love.” It supports a “pro-life Constitution” and proclaims that marriage between a man and a woman is a “God-ordained contract.” And the platform supports what the party labels as the 2nd Amendment’s “right to self defense” and calls for building a fence around the entire United States border. After being read excerpts of the platform, more than 50% of those surveyed in the poll said they wanted to leave the American Independent Party. The more specific the platform position, the weaker the support of those surveyed. Most of the voters who were polled knew little, if anything, about the party to which they belong. “The majority of those that are registered that way have some degree of confusion,” said Smith, a veteran who has conducted more than 400 polls for Republicans. Share your story Amanda Cabanilla, a student at Whittier College, shared her story of being an accidential AIP member. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) Count Amanda Cabanilla, 25, among them. The one-time Democrat changed her registration with the intention of being independent of all political parties. After she was contacted by The Times’ pollsters, she researched the AIP. “I couldn’t believe what I was looking at,” she said later. “They are far to the right of the Republican Party, and their ‘independence’ kind of has the implication that they’re a more centrist or moderate party.” The Times obtained the list of all Californians registered with the American Independent Party through a public records act request. A review of the rolls discovered the names of some well-known celebrities, verified by their birth dates. Most of them said their registration in the party was a mistake. “The views of this party do not accurately reflect my personal beliefs and I am not affiliated with any political party,” Kaley Cuoco, best known for her role on “The Big Bang Theory,” said in a statement to The Times. “As such, I am taking the necessary steps to immediately remove my name as a member of this voting party.” Stone and Leonard plan to re-register before the June election, representatives told The Times. Moore has both contributed money to and campaigned for President Obama. Her registration as an AIP member is wrong, a representative said. “Demi Moore is not, nor has ever been, a member of the American Independent Party,” the representative said. “Any record that states otherwise is a mistake.”

Accidental members include California’s rich, famous and powerful From left top , Emma Stone, Sugar Ray Leonard, Mark Pincus, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Kaley Cuoco, Demi Moore