Foot traffic increased at the Texas County clerk’s office before last Wednesday – the deadline for registering to vote in the Missouri presidential primary Feb. 5.
County Clerk Don Troutman said 75 new voter registrations were recorded.
Missouri and 23 other states hold presidential primaries on Feb. 5, an event that’s been dubbed “Super Duper Tuesday.”
The state conducted a presidential primary in 1988, when then-U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt, D-St. Louis, won but failed to win the nomination. Before and after that experiment, Missouri political parties held caucuses to determine preferences among presidential candidates.
In 2004, Texas County primary voters supported John Kerry with 853 votes and John Edwards with 763 tallies. About 2,000 participated in the Democratic primary. In the GOP election, George W. Bush received 701 votes of 741 cast.
Missouri is one of the few presidential primary states that do not track party affiliation of registered voters. However, voters must openly declare before voting whether they want a Democratic, Republican or Libertarian ballot.