Saturday marks another stop on the road to 2024 as South Carolina holds its Democrat presidential primary, the first contest officially recognized by the Democratic National Committee in its reworked schedule that sought to punish states (such as New Hampshire) for not being "diverse" enough, or something. Although Biden won the Granite State's unrecognized primary with write-in votes, no delegates were awarded due to state law requiring its primary to take place first, violating the schedule adopted by the DNC.
On the Democrat ballot in the Palmetto State are President Joe Biden, U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN), and author Marianne Williamson, all vying for South Carolina's 55 delegates to this summer's convention in Chicago. A total of 1,969 delegates are needed to lock up the Dem nomination, most of which are up for grabs on Super Tuesday, March 5, when more than 15 contests occur and 1,421 delegates are allocated between them.
Polls in South Carolina close at 7:00 p.m. ET on Saturday and, as always, Townhall has all the live results below.
Joe Biden held a commanding lead in South Carolina polls heading into Saturday's primary as his campaign expects to win handily in the state that changed his luck in the 2020 presidential primary — thanks largely to the endorsement from U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) who has again endorsed Biden.
Last time around, Biden secured more than 48 percent of the vote and won 39 delegates while U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) claimed just shy of 20 percent, receiving 15 delegates.
This cycle, Biden is looking for a decisive victory to kick off the officially sanctioned DNC primary schedule as he hopes to silence talk about his Democrat challengers and potential third-party options. Even if Biden does win by expectedly large margins, there will still be tea leaves to be read. For example, will young voters or black voters — two groups in which polling has suggested support for Biden is waning — show any significant shifts compared to 2020? Exit polling could also provide interesting insight into what priorities Democrats are focused on ahead of 2024 and there will be plenty of prognosticating to be done regarding what that means for Biden voter turnout in November.
South Carolina's open primary means that Palmetto State residents can choose whether they vote in the GOP or Democrat primary — but not both. That means anyone who doesn't vote in Saturday's Democrat primary can cast a ballot in the GOP primary being held in a few weeks on Saturday, February 24.