With the candidacy of former vice president Joe Biden seemingly hanging on the line, we enter the last of the early state contests on the 2020 primary calendar. South Carolina voters will head to the polls today in an open primary system where any registered voter can choose to participate in the Democratic primary, including Republicans and independent voters.
Here are all the details for the primary as well as live results to follow along:
Saturday, February 29
South Carolina Democratic Primary
Time: Voting from 7 am ET to 7 pm ET
Registration Deadline: Thursday, January 30, 2020
Where To Vote: Find Your Polling Location
Delegates: 63 (54 pledged, 9 super)
Allocation: Proportional
Threshold: 15% (A candidate must receive at least 15% to win a delegate)
Other Links: South Carolina Voter Registration Check
Live Primary Results
Watch live below from CBSN which should begin at 6 pm ET to monitor the primary as polls close at 7 pm ET.
We anticipate that the results should come in fairly soon after the polls close at 7 pm ET. Since this is a primary contest run by the state rather than a caucus, as in Iowa and Nevada, the organization and reporting will be much faster.
Who can vote?
South Carolina has an “open” primary system which means any registered voter can participate in the primary. However, registration must be completed at least 30 days prior to voting which means there is no same-day registration in South Carolina.
It is too late to register for the presidential primary but not for the general election in November.
How are delegates awarded?
Seven Democratic candidates will be competing for 54 of the state’s 63 delegates that will go to the National Democratic Convention. The other nine automatic delegates, commonly know as “Superdelegates,” are unpledged and will be a combination of the state’s Democratic members of Congress and members of the Democratic National Committee. They are only able to vote on the second round at the nominating convention if there’s no consensus after the first round.
Candidates who meet a mandatory 15% threshold at the congressional district or statewide levels, will split the 54 delegates based on their percentage of the statewide primary vote.
More Details
Follow the complete 2020 Primary Schedule for all the upcoming contests.
The next voting takes place on Tuesday, March 3, in what is known as “Super Tuesday” when a large number of states will hold contests.
Donate Now to Support Election Central
- Help defend independent journalism
- Directly support this website and our efforts