From the Stamp Act in 1765 to the Tea Act in 1773, and ultimately the shots fired in Lexington in 1775 and the ensuing Revolutionary War, the American people have resisted the vile concept of taxation without representation. Yet with just two independent Senators in the Senate and zero independent or third party Representatives in the House, there is a large and growing segment of the population that is only minimally represented in the major legislative bodies of our federal government. The picture in state legislatures is just as dismal -- there are a total of 33 independent and third party legislators out of 7,383, or 0.4% (just like the 0.4% in Congress). We are at a crisis point in American democracy. The way we get out of this mess is to view our votes differently, to recognize all of our options, and to step out of the partisan box. The second we start to even consider all of our options, the blinders come off and we can see our own agency to change what’s broken. We can start to demand more from the candidates who have been taking our votes for granted. We can advocate more effectively for reforms like Ranked Choice Voting and Open Debates that are so clearly beneficial to our system of self-governance. If we declare our political independence, we recapture the theoretical power of our votes and our voices. If they can’t take our votes for granted, after all, they actually have to start listening to us. It’s time to declare our independence and send a clear message to ALL politicians that time is up for the two-party duopoly: Sign this petition to #DeclareYourIndependence & be counted #RegisterYourIndependence by registering to vote independent or changing your party affiliation to unenrolled, unaffiliated, or No Party Preference, where allowed. Try vote.org or vote.gov. Let it be known that you will no longer support duopoly candidates who don’t publicly pledge to support #RankedChoiceVoting & #OpenDebates Share the petition & the badge to spread the word