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South Carolina Democratic primary turnout for 2024 and how it compares to previous years
Washington — President Biden cruised to an easy victory Saturday in South Carolina’s Democratic primary as the incumbent facing two long-shot candidates, winning about 96% of the vote with 97% of precincts reporting. But for voters in the Palmetto State, which marked the beginning of the Democratic primary nominating calendar this year, turnout was exceedingly low.
South Carolina primary voter turnout for 2024
Around 131,000 South Carolinians voted in the 2024 Democratic primary, making up just around 4% of registered voters statewide. The showing marks the lowest turnout in the last few presidential primaries for Democrats, though those contests were notably more competitive.
How does 2024 South Carolina Democrat turnout compare to previous years?
Turnout for this year’s Democratic primary fell well below previous contests. In 2020, 540,000 people — around 16% of voters — participated in the Democratic primary, while in 2016, 373,063 — more than 12% — did the same. In 2012, former President Barack Obama ran unopposed in the primary, but in 2008, 532,151 turned out, accounting for around 23% of registered voters, according to the South Carolina Election Commission.
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How many delegates did Biden get in South Carolina?
CBS News projects Mr. Biden will win all 55 pledged delegates at stake in the state’s primary, defeating Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota and self-help author Marianne Williamson, as was expected for the current president facing party opposition only from long-shot candidates.
Still, the South Carolina primary was expected to be an indicator of the president’s support among Black voters, who helped revive Biden’s 2020 campaign after underwhelming performances in earlier state primaries.
Why was the South Carolina Democratic primary so early this year?
While the state has been fourth among nominating contests in previous years, occurring on the same day as the Republican primary, the Democratic National Committee moved South Carolina’s primary to the top of the calendar this year, citing the Palmetto State’s more racially diverse electorate that’s more representative of the country more broadly. Even so, New Hampshire defied the move by holding its first-in-the-nation primary, as is tradition, last month, though Mr. Biden did not appear on the ballot.
When is the Republican South Carolina primary?
The state’s GOP primary is set for Feb. 24, falling in the traditional order of state primaries. The contest has been billed as a major test for former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who served as the state’s governor from 2011 to 2017, as she tries to make inroads despite former President Donald Trump’s dominance in the race so far.
For the Republican primary, early voting begins on Feb. 12 and ends Feb. 22, with polls open on Feb. 24 from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Polling places will be open from from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on the day of the primary.
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Sen. Mark Kelly says feds need to do a “better job” of letting Americans know “there’s a huge amount of misinformation” on election
Washington — Sen. Mark Kelly said Sunday that the federal government needs to do its part to inform Americans of the vast swath of election misinformation that’s being consumed on social media platforms like X, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram.
“It’s up to us, the people who serve in Congress and in the White House to get the information out there, that there is a tremendous amount of misinformation in this election, and it’s not going to stop on Nov. 5,” Kelly said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”
Kelly, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he’s seen these misinformation operations target not only his state of Arizona, but also other battleground states.
“There is a very reasonable chance I would put it in the 20 to 30% range, that the content you are seeing, the comments you are seeing, are coming from one of those three countries: Russia, Iran, China,” Kelly said.
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In a committee hearing last month on foreign threats to the 2024 election, Kelly presented screenshots of Russian-made web pages showing fabricated headlines designed to look like Fox News and The Washington Post, targeted at voters in battleground states.
“So my constituents in Arizona and others — they seek to influence the outcome of these elections, and that is absolutely beyond the pale,” Kelly said at the Sept. 18 hearing. “We’ve got to do something about it.”
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump each have the support of 49% of Arizona voters, according to CBS News’ battleground tracker as of Sept. 30.
In another battleground state, Pennsylvania, Trump returned Saturday to hold a rally in Butler three months after an attempted assassination on him. He was joined by members of his own party and billionaire Elon Musk, who said Trump was the only way to preserve democracy and warned of a last election if he does not win in November.
Speaking to CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Kelly called the social media mogul a hypocrite.
“He’s standing next to the guy that tried to overturn the 2020 election on Jan. 6, saying that this is somehow going to be the last election and they’re going to take away your vote,” Kelly said. “And you know, it just doesn’t pass the logic test.”
At the White House press briefing on Friday, President Biden – speaking from the podium for the first time since taking office – said he’s confident of a free and fair election but alluded to the 2021 insurrection at the Capitol in his concerns on whether it will be a peaceful transfer of power.
“The things that Trump has said and the things that he said last time out when he didn’t like the outcome of the election were very dangerous,” Mr. Biden said. “If you notice, I noticed that the vice-presidential Republican candidate did not say he’d accept the outcome of the election, and they haven’t even accepted the outcome of the last election.”
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