Oklahoma Democrats will keep their primary elections open to independent voters.

The party first opened its primaries to independents in 2015 to make its elections more inclusive and to maintain a relationship with those who have either left the party or haven't yet picked sides. The decision came as the number of Democrats in Oklahoma shrank to record low levels.

As of January, only 852,447 people were registered with the Democratic Party in Oklahoma, compared with 989,358 Republicans.

According to the Oklahoma State Election Board, there were 316,109 independents. Oklahoma law prevents independents from voting in a party's primary election unless that party allows them access.