The Fallacy That is "Excluding Independents"

While stuck yet again in an airport, I've had to resort to suffering through a CNN "special report" on one of their examples of "broken government" being the "exclusion of independent voters" during many states' primary elections in which only registered party members may vote. The ridiculousness of several interviewed independents' arguments that they are excluded and denied their right to vote in primaries by these states' rules has no bounds. Here in Ohio, I've seen first hand what a mockery the lack of such rules creates. Not only can independents vote in any primary here, registered Republicans can vote in Democratic primaries and vice versa. This led to Rush Limbaugh's famous "vote for Hilary" campaign here during the last presidential election. Be clear, party primaries are not part of the formal election process. They are party activities and, therefore, should be limited only to the party's registered voters to decide their candidates. That's why third party or independent candidates can get on ballots with the appropriate number of supporting signatures. States like Ohio with these open primaries only lead to manipulated primaries or candidates not particularly liked by anyone.