Thousands of California voters mistakenly registered for an ultraconservative political party

Almost 500,000 Californians are registered members of the ultraconservative American Independent Party, and a majority of those voters — including many celebrities — seem to have joined in error.

A Los Angeles Times investigation found that nearly three in four people did not know they were joining the party, instead believing they were declaring no party affiliation. George Wallace helped create the American Independent Party in 1967, and ran on its ticket during his bid for the White House. The party is against abortion and same sex marriage, and wants to build a wall across the U.S. and Mexico border. The party only exists in California now, and Markham Robinson, chairman of AIP's executive committee, told the Times the party is no longer "segregationist," but just "conservative" and "constitutionalist."

A bipartisan team of pollsters surveyed more than 500 AIP members, and fewer than 4 percent correctly identified their registration as a member of AIP, the Times reports. Some said they knew absolutely nothing about the party, and more than 50 percent wanted to leave after they were read portions of the party's platform. Some celebrities listed as AIP members include Emma Stone, Demi Moore, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Kaley Cuoco, who told the Times the party's views "do not accurately reflect my personal beliefs" and she is taking the necessary steps to leave. Representatives for Stone and Leonard said they will re-register before the June 7 presidential primary, and a representative for Moore, who has raised money and campaigned for President Obama, said she "is not, nor has ever been, a member of the American Independent Party."

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California voters who wish to be truly independent and not a member of any political party must check the box on the registration form that reads "no, I don't want to register with a political party." The American Independent Party box is first on the form, and many California officials believe this is misleading and confusing. Read more about the American Independent Party — and which GOP candidate AIP leaders say they support — at the Los Angeles Times.