Some years back, the Republican Party won the right to restrict access to their their ballot to only Republican-registered and/or Independent voters. The Democratic ballot is available to all.)

This like all else (or ALMOST all else) regarding voting procedures, is a matter of state law, and varies.

Frankly, I like the idea of the primaries being limited to those declaring themselves in advance as allied to the particular party. It seems to me that, since no public office is being decided, but only the anointment of a private organization, it is inappropriate for "spoilers" from the contrary organization(s) (or no organization at all) to have a hand in deciding who shall receive the party's blessing.

If, hypothetically, the Masons wanted to act politically as a party, and a primary were run to decide who the Masonic candidate was to be, it would be unthinkable that a Knight of Columbus should vote in the Masonic primary. And vice versa.

I know many will disagree with me on closed and open primaries, but them's me thoughts.

Dave Oesterreich