Republican Unlikely to Change Primaries Solely by Changing Convention Rules

The Republican Party is unlikely to reform the presidential primary process by changing the rules at the upcoming national party convention in July to exclude independent voters, US Senator and Republican Party leader John Thune told Sputnik on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — On Tuesday, the New York Times reported that Republican activists, upset over the likely nomination of outsider candidate Donald Trump, may attempt to push for rule changes at the upcoming July party convention in Cleveland, Ohio in July.

"There are always going to be suggestions made, as there are at every convention to the Rules Committee, about proposed changes, but… I can’t imagine that," Thune said of reports that changes could be put in place to exclude independent voters from casting ballots in the next Republican presidential primary.

The report noted that activists may try to limit open primaries in states that allow anyone, not just registered Republicans, to vote for the Republican nominee.

Thune rejected the idea that there would be a national approach to limit open primaries.

"I think states are still going to be in charge of deciding who votes in primaries," Thune stated.

Trump has already broken previous Republican turnout records by drawing in historically high numbers of voters to participate in the Republican presidential primaries.

Even before the upcoming primary in the most populous US state of California on June 7, Trump has brought in 11.5 million voters, shattering the record set by George W. Bush in the 2000 election.