Voters affiliated with the Independent Party of Florida were surprised to find out this week that their party is now nonexistent in the eyes of state election officials.

  • Independent Party of Florida voters to receive explanation letters
  • Letters will specify that their party has been disbanded
  • Organizers working to have party reinstated

"One word of language in the statutes have advocated for obliterating the Independent Party of Florida, which in effect has taken 262,599 registered voters out of the party that they registered for as independents," party Chairman Ernie Bach said.

"In the 2014 audit, they decided that it required to be done by a certified public accountant," Bach said. "The language in the statute does not say 'certified.' It simply says 'public accountant,' which is what we’ve been doing for years previously."

Bach said it’s simply wrong to revoke the party's status based on confusing wording in the statute.

Bach is now working to get the Independent Party of Florida reinstated. Meanwhile, Supervisor of Elections offices are sending out letters to registered Independent Party voters, explaining their party's demise.

"Each voter that had been registered with the Independent Party will receive a letter from us notifying them that their party status has been canceled and that they are now registered as No Party Affiliation" per state guidelines, said Jason Latimer with the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections Office.

The packet also includes a registration application and a self-addressed stamped envelope.

In Brevard County, Supervisor of Elections Lori Scott has sent out new voter information cards to 11,000 voters who were registered with the Independent Party of Florida.