Under current law, at each primary election voters are entitled to pick any ballot among the various established political parties, regardless of their political party affiliation or unaffiliation. This act stipulates that voters are only entitled to cast a ballot in the primary of the political party with which they are affiliated, according to their voter registration.

The act permits voters to change political party affiliation at any time, provided that changes made less than 23 weeks prior to the primary election will not take effect until after such election has taken place. Any person who has not previously registered to vote in Missouri and who registers to vote after the last day to change party affiliation but before the last day to register to vote may vote in the primary election if the person chooses a political party affiliation or unaffiliation upon registering to vote.

Any person registered to vote prior to the effective date of this act shall be considered to be unaffiliated with a political party unless the person votes in the primary election held in August 2026, in which case the election authority must change the person's voter registration to reflect that the ballot chosen by the person is the political party with which the person is affiliated.

The act requires that any person who files a declaration of candidacy as a party candidate for nomination or election to any office must be affiliated with that political party no later than twenty-three weeks prior to the last Tuesday in February (the opening of candidate filing) immediately preceding the primary election in question. Likewise, any person running as an independent candidate or as the candidate for a new party shall be registered as unaffiliated as of the same deadline.

Current law allows party nominating committees of any established political party to select a party candidate under certain situations. This act requires any candidate selected by the committee to be affiliated with such party.

This act is effective January 1, 2025.

This act is identical to SB 392 (2023) and SB 240 (2023) and substantially similar to HB 31 (2023), SB 907 (2022), SB 154 (2021), HB 1450 (2022), SB 571 (2020), HB 1258 (2020), HB 1639 (2020), SB 109 (2019), and HCS/HBs 26 & 922 (2019).

SCOTT SVAGERA