Topeka ? Unaffiliated voters will not be allowed to cast a ballot in the state Republican primary on Aug. 3, following a judge’s decision Wednesday that the state party chairman “dangerously overstepped his bounds” by declaring it open.

“Defending the party’s constitution and bylaws necessarily required defending the closed primary,” Shawnee County District Judge Charles Andrews said in a 12-page order. “Therefore, the chairman’s ill-advised decision was completely without merit.”

Ruling expected on GOP primary (7-7-04)

Kansas law has mandated closed Republican and Democratic primaries since 1908. But state GOP Chairman Dennis Jones decided to open the primary after Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh, reacting to a federal appeals court decision, concluded the parties — not the state — must be allowed to decide who participates in their primaries.

Thornburgh asked the both the GOP and Democratic parties if they wanted to open their primaries to unaffiliated voters. Jones said yes, as did the state’s Democratic executive committee.

Susan Estes, the GOP’s 4th Congressional District chairwoman, sued both Jones and Thornburgh, arguing that Jones did not have the power under the party’s constitution to set such a policy.

The decision does not affect the Democratic primary.

“This is similar to professional baseball’s decision to have a designated hitter in one league and not in the other,” Andrews wrote. “Kansas voters will survive this ordeal, much like baseball fans across America.”