From March 12 to June 7, 1924, voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for president in the 1924 United States presidential election. The concept of a primary election, where any registered party member would vote for a candidate, was relatively new in the American political landscape. In only 12 states were actual primaries held, and even in those the results were not universally binding for the delegates to the Democratic National Convention, where the presidential candidate would be formally chosen. In most of the country, the selection of delegates was confined to state-level conventions and caucuses, under the heavy hand of local political machines.