A decline in split-ticket voting appears to be just another example of how calcified and partisan our electorate has become.

Even fewer Americans may be willing to split their votes this election, said Casey Burgat, the legislative affairs program director at George Washington University.

Burgat is skeptical that many Americans are really the political “free agents” they claim to be.

A split-ticket voter will pick a presidential candidate and a congressional candidate of different parties. Fewer than 4% of congressional districts went that way in 2020.

That’s compared to over 40% of districts turning in split-ticket results 40 years ago, which Burgat said was “just bananas land when we think about our polarized era.”

That’s despite Gallup reporting this year that more Americans see themselves as political independents.

Gallup said 43% of people in its polling identified as a political independent, which tied for the high in its tracking that goes back several decades.

Once again, voters might not have an accurate self-assessment.

Oklahoma State University politics professor Seth McKee previously said that the Gallup count of independents doesn’t really convey how the electorate feels or behaves.

Gallup also asked folks who identified as independents if they leaned Republican or Democrat. With that, 45% of Americans either identified as Republicans or leaned Republican. While 43% either identified as Democrats or leaned that way.

That leaves just 12% of voters as independent voters who can sway the outcome of the election.

Meanwhile, other surveys have shown that strong partisanship is growing.

The American National Election Studies shows 44% of voters are strong partisans, up from just over 30% 20 years ago.

“So, if you’re the person who is saying, ‘I vote the issues, not the party,’ are you sure you do that?” Burgat said. “Or is it more like a sports team? When you don’t care about the name on the back, what number it is, but so long as they get in the end zone, you are their fan.”