The state Senate has voted down a bill that would let voters identify with a political party on their voter registration.

The bill was aimed at letting parties have closed primaries. Under current law, anyone can vote in a nominating primary election (although if both parties have a primary on that day, you can only vote in one). Republicans in particular have been vocal about a fear that Democrats would vote in GOP primaries to support weaker candidates.

The bill would have let voters choose whether to be identified as members of a party, or be independent.

Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax, argued that it would be costly, requiring education of voters of the option to register by party and that they wouldn’t be allowed to vote in party primaries if not registered with that party.

“We’ve never had party registration in this state, and our process is the better for it,” Petersen said. “This is going to cause a tremendous amount of confusion.”

Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin, who sponsored the bill, said the burden of education would fall mainly on the political parties.

The Senate rejected the bill on a 16-24 vote.