There are 112 Republicans from around the country meeting in Cleveland Monday and Tuesday and the group could decide how Missouri’s presidential primary is conducted in 2020. The “Rules Committee” for the GOP will debate whether voters must be members of the Republican Party to vote in the GOP’s presidential primaries and caucuses in 2020.
Republicans gather in Cleveland to debate whether to make Missouri a closed primary state
The chairman of the Republican National Committee supports so-called “closed” primaries. Critics of “open” contests like the Missouri Primary in 2016 argue Democrats and independents get to “meddle” in Republican Party affairs. On the other side of this debate are Republicans who say the party benefits by bringing in new voters.
During the Missouri GOP Convention in May, a state committee passed a resolution to ask the legislature to make Missouri a closed primary state. Voters would be required to register their party affiliation and that information would be public record.
Radio Iowa’s O.Kay Henderson contributed to this story