Recognizing that independent voters are set to have an outsize effect on the midterm elections, we reached out to you, our readers, for a recent Forum feature to ask why they have eschewed a political party – and why they think so many more voters are doing the same.

We recently published a collection of those hundreds of answers from proud and frustrated independents, but the responses kept on coming, and many of them focused on one shared hope: the idea that a viable third party might one day interrupt our polarized two-party system.

Many of you say a third party is impossible under the weight of two such deeply entrenched (and well-funded) political parties, but others say the Founding Fathers believed in a far less party-centric path forward, and so should we.

Below is one more sampling of this fascinating piece of the electorate. For more opportunities to weigh in, visit usatoday.com/forum or drop us a note at forum@usatoday.com.

A viable third party could temper extremes

I am proud to be an independent voter. I changed my affiliation from Republican to independent about three or four elections ago. Both parties are too extreme for my mindset. And now the Democrats have gone totally nuts on immigration and woke policies. The Republicans are too far right on religion. I consider myself a free........

© USA TODAY