To the editor:

Debate over Ballot Question 7 and nonpartisan elections has been healthy for Portsmouth. But that debate should be grounded in facts, and councilor Mary McDowell continues to misrepresent a key statistic: the number of Portsmouth voters registered as unaffiliated. More than 60% of Portsmouth voters may be listed as “unaffiliated,” but that tells us virtually nothing about their political beliefs.

In Rhode Island, “unaffiliated” is a voter-registration status. It means a voter is not registered with a recognized political party. Importantly, unaffiliated voters can and do vote in party primaries. They may choose which party primary to participate in while retaining their unaffiliated status.

That is very different from an “independent” candidate.

Independent describes a candidate who seeks office without running as the nominee of a recognized political party. An independent candidate may hold Democratic, Republican, conservative, progressive, or other political views. A person registered with a political party can even choose to run as an independent. The label itself tells voters remarkably little about that candidate’s philosophy, allegiances, supporters or positions.

That is precisely why Ms. McDowell’s repeated characterization of Portsmouth’s unaffiliated voters as “independents” is misleading. A voter-registration record cannot tell us whether those residents lean Democratic, Republican, genuinely independent or something else entirely. Nor does party affiliation determine whether an elected official will represent unaffiliated voters. Once elected, every council member represents all of Portsmouth — regardless of party registration.

Ballot Question 7 is about whether Portsmouth should remove information from the ballot. Let’s debate that question on its merits instead of assigning political beliefs to more than 60% of our voters based on a registration status that tells us nothing.

Portsmouth voters deserve facts, clarity and transparency — not assumptions.

Glenn D. Allen

Portsmouth

Note: Allen is a former member of the Portsmouth Board of Canvassers.