By Tom Weber, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – Polls will be open until 7:00 tonight across Missouri; voters will pick nominees for President. They'll also vote answer some ballot questions special to certain towns or districts.
This will be just the third time Missourians pick Presidential nominees in a primary (2000 & 1988); parties have traditionally held caucuses. But since all the voting machines will be out anyway, a few ballot questions will also be answered, including a half-billion dollar bond questions from the Metropolitan Sewer District. State Elections officials predict 23% turnout today. That would be slightly higher than the 21% in the Presidential Primaries of 2000. The $3.7 million it will cost to hold the election was removed from this year's budget, but the law that requires a February Third primary be held was not. As a result, money has been taken from other places in state government to pay for it. The winner of the Presidential primary will not get all of the state's 74 delegates, though. They'll get divvyed up based on the percentage each candidate gets in the race. A candidate has to get 15% of the vote to even qualify for a delegate. But a majority of delegates in play tomorrow will not be assigned based on a statewide vote, but rather how candidates do in each Congressional District. Any candidate with 15% just in one district can get a delegate, which is why supporters of Al Sharpton and Dennis Kucinich have been focusing on more strategic areas of support. Both Sharpton and Kucinich have yet to garner big returns at the polls but could gain a few delegates to send to the Convention.