Fewer Americans identify with political parties in lead up to U.S. elections

The percentage of Americans who identify as either a Democrat or a Republican is at or near the record low, amid the lead up to the 2016 elections, found a Gallup poll released Monday.

In 2015, for the fifth consecutive year, at least four in 10 U.S. adults identified as political independents, according to the poll.

This elevated percentage of political independents leaves Democratic -- at 29 percent -- and Republican, at 26 percent --- identification at or near the historical low point, Gallup found.

The percentage of U.S. adults identifying as Democrats is now at the lowest point in the past 27 years -- 29 percent -- down from the prior low of 30 percent in 2014, Gallup found.

The percentage of Republicans is now just one point above its recent low of 25 percent in 2013. Before 1988, there were several years when the average percentage of Republican identifiers in Gallup polls was lower than 25 percent, Gallup found.

The rise in political independence is likely related to Americans' frustration with party gridlock in the federal government.

In the past several years, dissatisfaction with the government has ranked among the leading issues when U.S. adults are asked to name the most important problem facing the U.S., and was the most frequently mentioned problem in 2014 and 2015.

Also, Americans' favorable rating of each party are on the lower end of what Gallup has measured over the past few decades, Gallup found.

Given that 2016 is a presidential election year, and the percentage of independents usually declines in years when Americans are choosing a president, both parties have an opportunity to win back some of their lost support.

But doing so partly depends on how appealing the parties' and their presidential candidates' messages prove to be, Gallup said. Enditem