Independent Votes in California go to Democrats

Interesting decision by the Republican Party to only allow registered Party voters to vote in the primaries. In my opinion this is only going to hurt the Republican Party. Currently 42.7% of registered voters are Democrats, 33.6% Republican, and 19.3% Independent. With the Republican Party losing roughly 20% of the vote, I do not understand the reasoning behind this decision. In the LA Times Hector Barajas was claiming that the party decided to exclude non-party affiliates because he felt that the Independent voters could create mischief in many areas where there are more Independent voters than Republicans. While I understand that California is a more liberal and democratic state, I still feel that the parites especially the Republicans would want all the votes that they can get.
In my opinion by not allowing Independent voters to vote in the Republican primary will lead to fewer Independent voters in the actual election. By discouraging voters now, I feel that many are going to be reluctant to change their vote in the actual election after being dismissed in the primary. Therefore the Democratic Party will claim majority if not more of the Independent votes. It will be interesting to follow this through to the actual election and whether or not after the presidential nominees are selected; the Republican candidate can change the Independent voter’s opinion of the Party.


http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-me-independents21jan21,1,6812616.story?ctrack=1&cset=true