[Pay now bill Clinton]

By traditionally holding the primary later than many other states, it might be more accurate to say that California is trying to disenfranchise Republicans AND Democrats. This is certainly true during a presidential election year. By the time the primary comes to CA there is practically no point in casting a vote (for president) regardless of what party one is voting for --- since by that time the candidates have already been more or less chosen, and the smaller (but often more interesting) candidates have dropped out because they didn't do well enough in other state primaries.

Better that all the state primaries be held on the same date. But I won't hold my breath waiting for that to happen.

[Demidog]

The primary election has absolutely nothing to do with the State or the Feds. If the GOP wanted to "re-enfranchise" it's GOP supporters, it could hold the primary anytime it wished and dump government regulation of that vote at any time. The primary is the selection of which party member will run for any given political office and should be a completely private matter between the heads of the parties and their membership. It doesn't require the help of the state. However, it is extremely convenient for the GOP and the Democrats to use your tax dollars in order to carry out their primary elections.