(JEFFERSON CITY, Mo., AP) — The Latest on the presidential preference primary In Missouri. (all times local):

9:15 a.m.

Presidential primary voting is brisk in the Kansas City suburb of Belton, where a poll worker says as many people had voted by 9 a.m. as often vote in an entire election day.

Precinct worker Janna Dillon, who’s staffed the pools for a decade, says about 90 people had voted Tuesday morning.

Dillon says often they don’t see that many people vote in a day. Turnout has been steady.

Among those voting early was 53-year-old Bart Hawkins, a railroad worker and retired Army veteran who supports Donald Trump, in part because of his business experience. Hawkins says Trump, like many voters, is “tired of what’s going on with this country.”

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1:30 a.m.

Missouri voters will make their presidential choices Tuesday in what could be a pivotal primary election day for some candidates looking to either solidify their front-runner status or build new momentum.

Polls were to be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the state. Elections also were being held in Florida, Illinois, North Carolina and Ohio, all of which carry more delegates than Missouri.

At stake in Missouri are 71 delegates to the Democratic National Convention to be awarded proportionally based on the votes candidates receive both statewide and in each of the state’s eight congressional districts.

Republicans were allotting 52 Missouri delegates based on the primary results. If no candidate carries a majority of the votes, the GOP delegates are to be given partly to the top statewide vote-getter and partly to the winners in each congressional district.

Billionaire businessman Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz both campaigned in Missouri during the final days before the Republican primary. So did the leading Democratic candidates, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. All four have been broadcasting TV ads in Missouri.

Missouri victories by Trump and Clinton could help solidify their status as front-runners. But wins by Cruz or Sanders could build new momentum for their campaigns, ensuring the race will carry on longer before any candidate obtains enough delegates to lock up the nomination.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Ohio Gov. John Kasich did not target Missouri as the election neared, instead focusing on must-win primaries in their home states.

Missouri received little personal attention from any of the candidates until the final few days before the election. But the top contenders held a combined 10 rallies around the state from Friday through Monday. Political passions ran high at some of those events. Trump’s rallies Friday in St. Louis and Saturday in Kansas City were repeatedly interrupted by protesters. Police made arrests in both cities and used pepper spray to disperse two groups that police said appeared ready to fight outside a theater hosting Trump’s Kansas City event.

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