Missouri's GOP presidential caucuses to take place Saturday

The Republican battle for Missouri's 52 presidential delegates may begin in earnest on Saturday, but don't expect a winner to be declared that day. Unlike a winner-takes-all binding presidential primary, the county-level caucuses essentially constitute the first round of what even party leaders agree is a confusing and convoluted process.

Cape Girardeau County GOP chairman Evan Trump said he's been getting frequent calls from those who have questions.

"What is a caucus? What does it mean? A lot of people don't really understand the process," Trump said. "It's not very well known."

While some Missouri counties jumped the gun with caucuses earlier this week, most of the state's county-level caucuses will take place at 10 a.m. Saturday. Locally, Trump expects as many as 300 of the party faithful to show up at the University of Missouri Extension office in Jackson. Doors will open at 9 a.m.

Those who attend and bring their voter identification or driver's license will vote to select two slates of 36 delegates each -- one that will attend the 8th Congressional District caucus April 21 in Poplar Bluff and the other will go to the Republican state convention June 2 in Springfield.

Caucuses are also scheduled for Bollinger County, where 12 delegates will be decided on, with six going to Poplar Bluff for the regional caucus and six going to the state convention. In Scott County, they will vote on two slates of 17 delegates and in Perry County there will two slates of eight. Every county will also vote for a number of alternates.

Each county is assigned a number of delegates and alternates based on the number of votes cast for the Republican nominee for president during the 2008 general election.

Anyone who attends the caucus is eligible to nominate someone in attendance as a delegate. The only requirement is that the person declares that he or she is a Republican.

On Saturday, Trump said, the first order of business will be to nominate a caucus chairman to run the meeting and a secretary. Caucus rules will be approved, which will determine whether the delegates will be binding or if the delegates can throw their support behind the candidate of their choosing at the next round.

While it's up to those who attend, at least two county chairmen, including Beverly Peters of the Bollinger County GOP, favor making the delegates nonbinding. At their caucus at the Bollinger County Courthouse, Peters said they will put forward a motion to make the delegates nonbinding.

"The delegates aren't actually counted until June, and a lot could change between now and then," she said. "We'd hate to bind our folks, commit them to someone who may not be around in June."

Trump also hopes the delegates are nonbinding, for the same reason.

"You hamstring your candidates if you bind them to a certain candidate," Trump said. "Candidates could drop out. The delegate count could shift drastically from one candidate to another."

At the regional caucuses in April, the delegates do become binding.

After a caucus chairman is selected Saturday, in Cape Girardeau County, the delegates will be voted on, by paper vote most likely, after potential delegates are nominated, Trump said. With only two slates of six in Bollinger, Peters said a voice vote or a show of hands will likely suffice. Both said that delegates could -- and most likely will -- make up a segment of both slates, meaning some of the same people will be attending the regional caucuses and the state convention.

That's why Trump said it's so important that someone considering running as a delegate make sure they can attend those events. Delegates will also have to pay for their own accommodations.

Twenty-four of Missouri's delegates will be bound to particular candidates at the eight April caucuses that will take place in each of the state's congressional districts. These districts are based on the redrawn map after the state lost a district following the 2010 census. An additional 25 delegates will be bound at the June convention. The three other delegates are reserved for state party officials, who are free to support whoever they want.

While the state was lambasted last month for its nonbinding presidential primary that awarded no delegates, Trump and Peters say that caucuses are not without their advantage.

"It's a little bit confusing, but I think there are merits to it," Peters said. "The primary was so early in the contest that Missouri might have voted for someone who's not even in the picture come August. This way, when our delegates are finalized in June, we ought to have a much clearer picture of who's still in the race."

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