by Frank Schroth

An article in today’s Boston Globe reports that Boston suburbs are seeing a significant rise in unenrolled  or independent voters. 156 out of 158 communities north, west, and south of Boston have seen an increase in registered independents since 2006. The only communities that did not have an increase are Brookline and Marblehead. Milton ranks among the top 20 with an increase of 22.36%

The article reports:

As of August, unenrolled voters outnumbered registered Republicans in all of the 158 communities analyzed, and Democrats in 149. Plympton ranks highest in the region in unenrolled registrations, with 69 percent of its 2,092 registered voters eschewing party affiliation.

The increase is attributed to party machines loss of lustre to their reputations, a reluctance of votes to go in lockstep with a party and voter apathy. Millenials in particular are likely to register as independents.

You can find the article here and a chart of the growth of independents by community here.