2016 South Carolina Democratic Primary – Open Thread

South Carolina voters will once again head to the polls for the second primary in two weeks, this time for the Democrats as Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton go head-to-head in the South. Polls leading up to the contest have shown Clinton to be the heavy favorite with Sanders fighting to close the gap.

Saturday, February 27, 2016
South Carolina Democratic Primary
Live Results: DecisionDeskHQ, CNN, NYTimes
Voting from 7am to 7pm ET
Find Your Polling Place

There are 53 out of 59 delegates awarded based on today’s vote. The breakdown is 5 delegates per congressional district and proportionally awarded based on performance at that level.

We will be displaying live results here on the website as a test tonight. Please excuse any technical issues as we prepare for Super Tuesday. Please use the links above labeled as “Live Results” if there is an issue getting the results to display properly below. Report any issues using the contact form.

Live Results: (Starting after 7pm ET, updates every 10 minutes, please limit refreshing)

Precincts Reporting / Total Votes

Update 1 – 7:10pm ET

The polls closed at 7pm ET and Hillary Clinton is the projected winner according to the Associated Press. Stay tuned for the actual numbers to be rolling in over the next couple hours.

Original Story

Report from The Herald:

S.C. Democrats expect voter turnout in their presidential primary Saturday to be about half the record achieved by Republicans a week earlier.

Between 350,000 and 400,000 ballots will be cast, state Democratic Party chairman Jaime Harrison predicted Thursday.

Harrison expects the turnout will be “in between” the voting levels in previous Democratic primaries in 2004 and 2008, contests that featured multiple candidates.

If 400,000 votes are cast, that would mean about one out of every eight registered voters in the state goes to the polls.

In the Republican contest last weekend, 742,715 ballots were cast. That was one in every four registered voters.

…

Clinton is aiming for a decisive victory, which several polls suggest she will win. Sanders is hoping for a showing that can provide him momentum in upcoming March primaries and caucuses, analysts said.

Clinton’s strength is among African-Americans voters, expected to cast at least half – and, possibly, two-thirds – of S.C. ballots. Still, enthusiasm for Clinton appears tepid in some aspects, Oldendick said.

Sanders has attracted larger crowds and a cult-like following among some younger supporters. However, as the S.C. primary has neared, he has spent more time campaigning in other states where he has a better chance of winning.

The 36,890 absentee ballots cast by midday Thursday in the Democratic contest total about 10 percent of the expected turnout.

We should start getting results after 7pm ET, though it wouldn’t surprise me if Clinton is declared the winner pretty quickly if the returns start to match up with the exit polls.