SB 571 - This act modifies provisions of law relating to the conduct of primary elections. 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 requires persons registering to vote to indicate a political party affiliation. Voters may choose to be affiliated with any established political party or they may also choose to be unaffiliated. The voter registration form will explicitly notify registrants that if they do not choose a political party affiliation then they will be designated as unaffiliated.
A voter may change his or her political party affiliation at any time, except that changes made less than 23 weeks prior to the primary election will not take effect until 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 to register to vote may vote in the primary election if he or she 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 by the election authority to be unaffiliated unless he or she votes in a primary election after August 28, 2020 or files a change of political party affiliation pursuant to this act.
The act additionally 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, according to his or her voter registration, no later than twenty-three weeks prior to the last Tuesday in February 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 not less than twenty-three weeks prior to the date of selection.
This act has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2021.
This act is substantially similar to HB 1258 (2020), HB 1639 (2020), SB 109 (2019) and HCS/HBs 26 & 922 (2019).
SCOTT SVAGERA