Far-right American Independent Party attracts thousands of accidental members

Celebrities Demi Moore, Emma Stone, and Patrick Schwarzenegger are among tens of thousands of Californians who “accidentally” registered as members of the far-right American Independent Party.

A telephone survey by the Los Angeles Times of 500 members of the American Independent Party, which originally formed to support the 1968 presidential candidacy of segregationist George Wallace, found that three in four people were not aware they were members.

The party has an estimated 472,000 registered voters, 2.7 percent of the California’s total.

The word “independent” is believed to have confused voters who did not want to register with any political party and should have checked “no party preference”.

Demi Moore, who has contributed money to and campaigned for President Barack Obama, was listed among the conservative party's registered members.

A spokesperson for Moore told the LA Times that her membership was in error and Moore “is not, nor has ever been, a member of the American Independent Party.”

The blunder will prevent Moore from voting for candidates outside of the American Independent Party in the June 7 presidential primary if she doesn’t change her registration before the May 23 deadline.

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Actor and model Patrick Schwarzenegger, son of former governor Arnold, also selected the party when he registered to vote in 2013. Actresses Emma Stone and Kayley Cuoco also made the mistake.

The American Independent Party, which only exists in California after a split from the national Constitution Party in 2008, originally launched in 1967 to support Alabama Governor George Wallace, who won five states in the 1968 presidential election won by Richard Nixon.

AIP's God-centric platform includes "Freedom from 'Liberalism'", opposition to abortion, "Illegal Immigration", and marriage equality.