Constitution Party Adopts Resolution Calling on Voters to Break From Two-Party System

The Constitution Party is calling on voters to renounce their loyalty to the Democratic and Republican parties, adopting a resolution during its national meeting in Philadelphia that denounces the two-party system as a threat to constitutional government and voter independence.

The Constitution National Committee approved the resolution during its Spring National Committee Meeting and Issues Conference earlier this month. The event was hosted by the Constitution Party of Pennsylvania and scheduled to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

In a statement announcing the resolution, the party connected its support to what it called a continuing “war on conservatism,” arguing that the Republican Party has driven out conservative politicians and voters. The party also invoked its founder, Howard Phillips, saying he created the Constitution Party as “an ark for conservatives when the GOP rejected them.”

The resolution, titled “Resolution to Separate From the Tyranny of the Democratic and Republican Parties,” accuses the two major parties of manipulating the political system. It states throughout the document that the two parties have created a “uniparty” that prioritizes corporate interests and conditions voters to believe that supporting candidates outside the two-party system is harmful. It declares that citizens are “free and independent” in their voting and calls on them to dissolve political loyalty to the major parties.

The party also adopted an accompanying “Declaration of Independence from the Two-Party System” during the same weekend that deliberately echoes the structure and language of the Declaration of Independence. In it, the party argues that the Democratic and Republican parties have engaged in a long series of actions that entrenched a political monopoly, fueled polarization, and otherwise made it difficult for independent and third party candidates to compete.

“We have called upon them, time and again, to reform — to open the political process, to listen to the voices of the people, to place country over party,” the document reads. “But they have responded with gridlock, empty promises, or further entrenchment. A political establishment that refuses accountability and change is no longer fit to lead a free people.”

The declaration further lists policy areas where the Constitution Party says the major parties have acted unconstitutionally, including in their responses to climate change, economic inequality, healthcare access, and gun violence. It also accuses the two organizations of violating voter trust through their support of ranked choice voting, campaign finance practices, gerrymandering, and actions that facilitate “voter fraud.”

“We, therefore, the independent citizens of the United States, do solemnly declare that we are free and independent from the Democratic and Republican Parties,” the declaration concludes, “that we do not recognize any monopoly they think they have over our lives; that we claim the right to build new parties and movements, to support independent candidates, and to restore our republic to truly reflect constitutional principles.”