Spot checks of precincts indicate high voter turn-out in SC today, possibly shattering previous records for Democrats.
One big number didn't get much play last week from the South Carolina Republican primary results: 135,000. That's the number of voters who didn't show up to vote Republican last week. 440,000 did vote -- far fewer than the 575,000 who voted in the 2000 Republican Primary in SC.
Will those 135,000 people go to the polls today? (Or even more, given the fact that the state's population has grown rapidly in the past 7 years?)
State Party officials are expecting perhaps 350,000 voters today -- which would be a record -- compared to 290,000 who voted in the Democratic Primary in 2004. I couldn't find any reference to how many Independents and Republicans were expected to vote. (In SC's open primary, voters can participate in one or the other party's primary, voter's choice.)
Pollsters seem to have settled on about 24 percent Independent voters, but the numbers could be much higher, given the 135,000 people who seemed to be missing from the Republican Primary lat week.
How much of a move to Blue could SC make today? Can't wait to see.
Early exit polls show:
3 out of 4 voters said the country is ready to elect a black president or a woman president! (Maybe SC isn't as racist as it's been painted.)
4 out of 5 voters said they'd be satisfied if Clinton or Obama wins. (Not nearly as many as DKos voters would say the same, it seems)
On the attacks:
3 of 4 Obama voters felt Obama unfairly attacked by Clinton
2 of 3 Clinton voters felt Clinton attacked unfairly by Obama and nearly as many Clinton voters said Clinton attacked OBama unfairly.
Edwards voters said Obama and Clinton attacked each other unfairly.
Early exits here: http://www.talkleft.com/...
Another number to watch from the 2004 exit polls -- how it compares to 2004's Presidential Election in SC. In that election, voters identified themselves as follows:
33 percent Democratic
44 percent Republican
23 percent Independent.
From the Washington Post on turn-out so far:
"*COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Early signs here suggests turnout could shatter 2004 totals. Several black precincts in Richland County, where Columbia is located, reported hitting 25 percent of all registered voters by midday, according to state party officials.
"Lexington County, a predominantly Republican County next door (to the capitol, Columbia) and to the west, also is seeing spikes. In one Lexington black precinct, 80 people total voted in 2004; today, 95 had voted by noon. In another black precinct, 59 people voted in 2004; by noon today, 118 had showed up. In mixed precincts in Lexington, numbers were higher as well: one reported 149 voters as of noon today, compared to 176 in 2004. And, in one predominantly white precinct in Lexington County, twice as many people had voted as of 10:20 this morning, as in 2004."
From The State newspaper of Columbia, SC:
"Richland County election commission, said there were long lines of absentee voters Friday. Cinnamon said there were about 700 Republican absentee votes and at least twice that in Democratic votes.
"The State Election Commission has issued more Democratic absentee ballots than Republican, a reversal of typical elections.
"Last week — in ice, rain and cold — Republican turnout dipped about 22 percent from the all-time high in 2000. About 445,000 voted in last Saturday’s Republican primary.
http://www.thestate.com/...
One really interesting tid-bit from the Greenville News:
Obama and Edwards have scheduled events in Columbia tonight to watch the results come in, but Hillary Clinton is going on to Tennessee tonight. (Does that mean, she expects really bad news and doesn't want to be here to get it?) Bill is still criss-crossing the state today, greeting voters at the polls, so it seems they still think Bill is a better draw in SC than Hillary.
From the New York Times:
"Throughout the state, party officials said they had early reports of high turnout, in predominantly white and black precincts. Several precincts in York County, on the state’s northern edge (just south of Charlotte, NC), had surpassed their complete voting totals from four years ago by early afternoon. Officials said similar turnout patterns were coming in from Aiken County, on the Georgia border (next to Augusta, GA)."