PARTIES SHARE ONE AIM: TO SQUASH INDEPENDENTS.

Byline: Jim Mangia

THERE is a silent crisis in American democracy that could change the face of our republic and disenfranchise a significant plurality of voters. More insidious than the U.S. Patriot Act, it threatens the very basis of democratic process. It is the coordinated attack by the two major parties on the principles of political reform and the rights of independent voters.

Over 35 percent of Americans nationally, and close to 20 percent in California, refuse to register as members of a political party. These independent voters are routinely referred to as ``decline-to-states,'' ``blanks'' or ``swing voters.'' But this voting bloc, which is larger than any minority or interest group and whose numbers are growing, has had more laws passed aimed at limiting its democratic rights, more lawsuits filed to prevent its participation in the political process and more attempts to deny its right to run for public office than any other grouping of Americans.

This is the elephant in the room that no one (especially the media) will talk about. Yet this is the civil-rights challenge of the 21st century.

In our increasingly polarized nation, independent voters will determine the outcome of the 2004 presidential election. Polls show that almost half the ``persuadable'' voters in the swing states are independents. Yet Democratic and Republican elected officials and party bosses prefer to keep these voters out of the process (unless they're going to vote for their candidate) and make it increasingly difficult for independents to seek public office.

Recently in California, Democratic and Republican state legislators voted unanimously to place a trick initiative on the ballot designed to kill Proposition 62 - the open-primary initiative that would empower California's 2.5 million independent voters.

In 1996, voters approved an earlier open-primary initiative with over 60 percent of the vote, only to have it challenged in court by the major parties. The challenge was successful, but Proposition 62 will most likely withstand the legal objections raised to the 1996 version, making it all the more dangerous for the major parties.

At the same time, the Democratic Party has launched a series of challenges to the petitions of independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader, successfully throwing him off the ballot in Arizona and hunting him down with lawsuits and complaints as soon as he files his petitions. There are plans by the Democratic Party to challenge Nader petitions and attempt to throw him off the ballot in at least 20 states.

While the Democrats certainly have the right to polemicize against Nader and urge voters not to support him, they have taken their fear of his candidacy to new levels. Now they are working overtime to deny his democratic right to run, actions that will have long-lasting impact on the democratic process and the rights of voters to more independent choices in our elections.

Because of laws passed by major-party controlled state legislatures, independents must collect 30 times as many signatures as Democrats and Republicans to run for president. Over 1.5 million signatures are required to run on every state ballot (compared with about 50,000 signatures for Democrats and Republicans on the same state ballots). The Federal Election Commission, comprised exclusively of Democrats and Republicans, consistently denies and harasses independent candidates seeking public office. And yet the independent sector continues to grow.

For the independent voter, California is a battleground state. It may not be ``in play'' at the presidential level, but it is ``in play'' as a testing ground for the power and perseverance of independent voters. We must pass Proposition 62, even as we challenge the Legislature's unconstitutional attempt to muddy the waters. We must fend off any effort to keep Ralph Nader off the ballot. If independents succeed on those fronts, it will be a win for out-of-the-box politics and for the democracy that is so dangerously at risk.