BY: SHANE LAGESSE
The Missouri House on Monday advanced legislation that would reinstate state-run presidential preference primaries and extend the no-excuse absentee voting period from two to six weeks.
Supporters of House Bill 126 cited a widespread positive response to the recently enacted no-excuse voting period as a motivating factor. They also noted negative feedback on the 2024 party-run caucuses, which replaced the state-run primaries after they were eliminated as part of a law passed in 2022.
The no-excuse absentee voting period has been in effect since August 2022 and allows voters to cast their ballot in elections in person or by mail starting two weeks before Election Day.
Supporters of the bill said they hoped that extending the no-excuse voting period would further alleviate stress on election workers and encourage voters to cast their ballot.
The state of Missouri ran March presidential primaries from 2000 until 2020. A 2022 law signed by former Gov. Mike Parson eliminated them. In 2024, the Republican Party held in-person caucuses in Missouri to select their delegates, while Democrats opted for a hybrid caucus with in-person voting and a mail-in ballot.
Low participation in these caucuses, alongside vocal blowback from residents who preferred the state-run primaries, were cited as motivators for reinstating the primaries.
“I believe it’s a lot simpler for our residents of our state going to cast a ballot like they do it in every other way for their preference for the presidential primary,” said state Rep. Brad Banderman, a Republican St. Clair.
Under the bill primaries would be held on the first Tuesday of March during presidential election years. The estimated cost to the state for conducting the primaries is $8 million.
The bill’s supporters also noted that unlike previous years, where the primary results have not been binding to party delegates, both political parties have agreed to adhere to the results for the first ballot at their respective party conventions.
The House needs to approve the legislation one more time before it heads to the Senate.
This story originally appeared in the Columbia Missourian. It can be republished in print or online.