Voters are expected to cast their first ballots in the 2024 presidential primaries in less than seven months, but the Democratic Party's schedule for when voters cast their primary ballots remains unsettled.
Since Democrats unveiled their plans in February to begin their primary process with South Carolina instead of Iowa and New Hampshire, it has received significant pushback from officials in traditional early-voting states.
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The Democratic National Committee voted to make South Carolina the first to vote in the primary process, on Feb. 3, 2024, with New Hampshire and Nevada following on Feb. 6, 2024, and Georgia on Feb. 14, 2024. Iowa was not on the early batch of states in the DNC's proposed schedule.
Officials in South Carolina quickly moved to make the Democratic presidential primary match the DNC's proposed date, with Nevada also maintaining its early date, but other states have not been as quick to decide when they will hold their presidential preference contest.
Iowa, which traditionally holds the first-in-the-nation caucuses, has not finalized the date for the 2024 caucuses for Republicans or Democrats. However, the Hawkeye State is expected to push itself to the front of the nominating schedule. Democratic Party officials in Iowa want the state to remain as the first to host a primary for the presidential election next year and have even proposed to withhold the results of the contest until after other early states have held their contests, to compromise with the DNC.
New Hampshire, traditionally the first primary election held in the presidential nominating process, has also pushed back on the idea of being moved back in the DNC's schedule and has not selected a date for its primary next year. Law in the state requires it to be the first primary held in the United States.
Georgia, meanwhile, opted not to follow the DNC's schedule for when it is holding its presidential primary, with Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announcing in May that the Peach State will hold its primary on March 12, 2024, nearly a month after the Democratic National Committee had wanted. The date lines up roughly with when the state has held presidential primaries in recent years.
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President Joe Biden announced in April he would be seeking a second term, with Vice President Kamala Harris, and he has not received any major challenges within his party. Likely Democratic contenders such as Govs. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) have endorsed Biden, leaving a clear path for the commander in chief to secure a second term.
Republicans are amid a competitive primary to nominate an opponent against Biden and have opted to maintain the traditional schedule, with Iowa slated to go first and candidates regularly going to the Hawkeye State to win over voters.