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JEFFERSON CITY Missouri Democrats are planning to open up next years party-run presidential preference primary to 17-year-olds who turn 18 by the November 2024 presidential election, according to draft plans out for public comment.

Missouri legislators in 2022 repealed the state-run presidential preference primary, with proponents arguing that political parties and not taxpayers should pick up the tab for the party contests.

Because an effort to reinstate the state-run primary failed this past legislative session, both the state Republican and Democratic parties are moving forward with plans for party-run contests in 2024.

In a 51-page draft released Tuesday, Missouri Democrats said their privately run primary, to take place March 23, would allow certain 17-year-olds to vote. That is despite Missouri requiring voters in official state elections to be 18.

To encourage participation by youth in the delegate selection process, any individual who will have turned eighteen (18) years of age by the date of the general election will be allowed to participate in the delegate selection process, the draft plan says.

The March 23 primary run by the state Democratic Party will be the first step in assigning Missouris 71 delegates to the Democratic National Convention, taking place between Aug. 19-22 in Chicago.

The party said each county will have a polling place and that there would be multiple locations in the St. Louis and Kansas City metro areas.

The draft plan would allow voters to cast in-person ballots between 8 a.m. and noon on the day of the primary.

The party plans to distribute mail-in ballots starting Feb. 12. The party will require mail ballot requests to be made by March 12.

The Democratic Party must receive the ballots back by 10 a.m. on March 23, the draft said.

The plan states that if two or more candidates make the ballot, the party will use a ranked-choice voting system to allow maximum engagement consistent with a traditional caucus method of achieving viability.

Delegates to the National Convention will be proportionally apportioned to fairly reflect the results, the draft said.

Party members will select or certify Democratic National Convention delegates and alternates at the state partys June 29 convention in Jefferson City.

The Democrats also said in their draft that the voter rolls for this process are registered voters of the state of Missouri who have declared Democrat as their party affiliation.

Legislators last year approved of Missouri voters declaring a political party, which has been seen as a precursor to a closed primary system.

But few voters have taken advantage of the new option.

According to a Post-Dispatch analysis of voter data from the secretary of state, fewer than 1% of registered voters had chosen to affiliate with a political party as of August.

The Democrats also said they are committed to an aggressive fundraising program for the party-run primary. The party said its delegate selection plan was estimated to cost between $250,000 to $475,000.

The party pegged the estimated cost of election administration at $175,000, which it hopes to raise by the end of the year.

If these fundraising goals are not met, the Missouri Democratic Party reserves the right to adjust planned investments in order to administer an election and/or seek an alternative method of voting, the draft says.

The draft is available online and the Democrats said Tuesday they are accepting public comments for 30 days.

The Missouri Republican Party has not yet announced its plans for its 2024 presidential nominating contest. The Missouri GOP state committee is scheduled to meet Sept. 9.

Josh Renaud of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.

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Missouri Democrats to allow 17-year-olds to vote in party-run ... - St. Louis Post-Dispatch