What to know about the upcoming presidential candidate selections

As the 2024 presidential election nears, the candidate selection process in Missouri is changing.

In 2022, the Missouri General Assembly voted to eliminate the presidential preference primary, leaving each political party to bear the costs of choosing its standard-bearer. The legislature attempted to reverse this decision in 2023, but gridlock in the Senate resulted in the legislation falling short.

This year, the Republican Party will hold caucuses to determine its presidential nominee Saturday, March 2, while the Democratic Party will hold a primary Saturday, March 23.

Republican caucus

Voters registered in their respective counties may participate in the party’s caucus March 2. A photo ID is required, and caucus-goers are required to sign a Republican Party Caucus Pledge upon entry to the venue.

"In Missouri, we have what’s called open primaries. When you go to the polls in August, you can say, ‘I want a Democrat one’ or ‘I want a Republican one.' Anyone can pick either one they want," said Matt Henson, Cape Girardeau County Republican Central Committee chairman. "In order to have some way of getting people to at least commit to being Republican, we’re asking them to sign a Republican pledge in support of what the Republican Party stands for in order to enter the caucus."

Missouri’s Republican Party has held caucuses in three of the last eight presidential election cycles, 1992, 1996 and 2012, with five being decided by a primary.

"In the last eight cycles, three of them have been caucuses, and five of them presidential preference primaries," Henson said. "If you take the caucus into effect this year, half of them have been caucuses and half of them have been primaries. We had a caucus in 2012, and we had a presidential preference primary in 2016 and 2020. Now, in 2024, we’re going to have another caucus.

"There’s a number of people in this presidential cycle that have gotten interested in the process that, historically, were not. Their only recent memory is a presidential preference primary, so they think that the caucus is new but it is not. It is actually the more traditional way of doing that."

Each county’s caucus begins at 10 a.m. on the day of, but those planning to attend are encouraged to arrive early to check-in. Doors to each venue are expected to open at 8 a.m.

The following list provides Republican caucus locations for each county in the Southeast Missourian’s coverage area:

• Bollinger County — Bollinger County Library, 207 Mayfield Drive in Marble Hill;
• Cape Girardeau County — Arena Building, 410 Kiwanis Drive in Cape Girardeau;
• Perry County — Knights of Columbus Hall, 31 S. Church St. in Perryville;
• Scott County — Scott County Courthouse, 131 S. Winchester St. in Benton.

For more information about the process, visit www.Missouri.gop, email Chandler@mogop.org or call (573) 606-0402.

Democratic primary

The state’s Democratic Party has elected to hold a presidential preference primary in 2024, but the window to vote will be small as voting will begin at 8 a.m. March 23 and will end at noon.

All eligible voters who are not registered Republicans may participate in their county’s Democratic primary. According to the Missouri Democrats website, at least one in-person voting site will be held in each county.

The party is also encouraging voters to submit mail-in ballots. Cape Girardeau County Democrats chairman Andy Leighton referenced New York’s 3rd Congressional District race from last week as to why voting ahead can be important.

"The Democrats actually have the best scenario for a voter that wants to participate, and by that, I mean you can order a ballot to be mailed to you," Leighton said. "That is open now, since Feb. 1, and, I believe, that goes through the 12th of March. They’ve already begun distributing ballots to those who have pre-ordered them and that will be ongoing until that phase ends. We are hoping that this will vastly increase participation as was the example in the New York 3rd Congressional District race. Democrats took advantage of the ability to vote early and did so, and on election day there was a massive snowstorm.

"I understand that, probably, the roads were clear enough by noon that people who wanted to vote could get out and vote on election day. That is with a full day of voting, like 12-plus hours of regular open polls. This is going to be four hours from 8 a.m. to noon, and you can imagine what would happen if it snowed on the 23rd or we just had very inclement weather. So, we are strongly encouraging people to go ahead and order a Democratic ballot and get it mailed in."

In addition to incumbent President Joe Biden, Dean Phillips, Stephen Lyons, Armando Perez-Serrato, Marianne Williamson and Jason Michael Palmer will be on the ballot.

The following list provides Democratic primary locations for each county in the Southeast Missourian’s coverage area:

• Cape Girardeau County — Shawnee Park Center, 835 S. West End Blvd. in Cape Girardeau;
• Perry County — University of Missouri Extension Center of Perry County, 321 N. Main St. in Perryville;
• Scott County — Scott County Courthouse, 131 S. Winchester St. in Benton.

The party is still sourcing a polling location for Bollinger County.

For more information regarding the Democratic primary, visit www.missouridemocrats.org, email info@missouridems.org or call (573) 777-1364. For those wanting to request a mail-in ballot, visit www.request.mrgvote.com/Missouri or call (855) 433-8683.