2020 South Carolina primary election results

Posted By: Staff
February 29, 2020 @ 11:23 am
ABC Politics

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adamkaz/iStock(CHARLESTON, S.C.) — South Carolina voters head to the ballot box on Saturday in a crucial day for the 2020 presidential candidates in the Democratic primary with 54 delegates up for grabs. Republican officials in the Palmetto State voted in 2019 to cancel their nominating contest in 2020 virtually paving a smooth pathway to the nomination for President Donald Trump.

Polls open at 7 a.m. ET and close at 7 p.m. ET.

State Significance

South Carolina traditionally holds the first-in-the-South primaries for Republicans and Democrats. The last of the four early nominating contests, and also the most delegate-rich, is notable for its large proportion of black voters on the Democratic side. Nearly 30% of the population is African American. In 2016, 61% of the South Carolina’s Democratic primary voters were black, according to exit polls.

Last presidential cycle, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won in a landslide over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, 74% to 26%. Then-candidate Donald Trump also clinched a victory in the 2016 Republican primary, with 32.5% of the vote.