The Independent Party, Oregon's third-largest political party, added more members than either the Democratic or Republican party in Oregon for the 10th consecutive month, according to statistics released today by the Oregon Secretary of State.

Though the party's overall voter registration remains small compared with the major parties -- there are just 46,000 members compared with 900,000 Democrats and 700,000 Republicans -- the party remains the fastest growing minor party in Oregon history

From January through July, the Independent Party has grown by approximately 3,000 members while the Democratic Party has lost 22,000 members and the Republican Party has lost 14,000. The Independent Party remains the only political party to grow significantly during 2009. Voters registered as non-affiliated have dropped by 7,000 since January.