WASHINGTON (NEWSnet/AP) — The Missouri Republican Party will hold presidential caucuses on Saturday, offering participants a chance to help select who represents the party on the November presidential ballot.

The caucuses are scheduled to convene at 10 a.m. CST, which is 11 a.m. EST. There is no official stop time; but local site chairs must report their results to the state party no later than 5 p.m. CST (6 p.m. EST).

The two major candidates remaining in the Republican party are former president Donald Trump along with Nikki Haley, his former U.N. ambassador. Florida businessman David Stuckenberg also will be listed. 

The Missouri GOP decided to resume holding a caucus this year; having participated in a primary in recent presidential cycles.

The results of the Missouri caucuses will help award 51 of the state’s 54 delegates to the Republican National Convention this summer. Participants will express their preferences for president, and those results are used to determine the number of delegates awarded to candidates under a “caucus-convention” system.

Under the caucus rules, participants must attend in person during a limited time frame and participate in the meeting. Voting is not done by secret ballot; early and absentee voting is not permitted at the caucuses. Caucus-goers will move around the room and form groups in support of their preferred presidential candidate.

Caucus-goers also must be registered to vote in Missouri and sign a pledge declaring their “allegiance to the Missouri Republican Party.” A 2022 election law gave voters the option to “affiliate” with a party through their local county clerk’s office. With that step, voters who chose to affiliate with the Democratic Party may be barred from participating in the Missouri GOP caucuses.

The Associated Press will report a statewide winner based on how many delegates each candidate has won, as well as the number of district delegates each candidate has won across eight congressional districts.

The Missouri Democrats will have a party-run primary March 23.

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