We don’t necessarily want to spoil anyone’s party, but the political free-for-all known as our closed primary system must be stopped.

Mississippi’s closed system for weeding out candidates before the general election is about as outdated as the wagon wheel.

Under our current system, voters must choose whether they wish to vote in the Republican primary or the Democratic primary.

Voters aren’t allowed for cross the invisible political line.

This antiquated process invariably leaves folks who wish to vote for the candidate and not the party stuck on a limb.

The result is voters are forced to compromise. And the last place any of us want to compromise should be at the ballot box.

In Jackson legislators are drawing off lines in the sand in preparation for battle over several bills which would abolish the state’s current political primary system.

More than 15 open primary bills were still struggling for life at the state Capitol on Monday.

The notion that voters should be allowed to vote for any candidate regardless of their party seems a bit like a no-brainer — especially as lines increasingly blur between Republicans, Democrats and third-party candidates.

We strongly urge legislators to take a long look at the dozen or so bills on the table and see if one of them will give the power to choose back in the hands of the voters.

The closed party has gone on long enough.

And like any party that gets out of hand someone — in this case the voters — have to clean up the mess left behind.