Voters will be key to Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul as they battle in today’s first-in-the-South main.
Matt Moore, Executive Director of the South Carolina Republican party, predicted a strong turnout. He told the State newspaper in Columbia that he believes voters will be among the highest record 573,101 electors who voted in the 2000 and 2008 the number of voters 445,499.
In addition to bragging rights, victor South Carolina GOP primary will win a delegate to the Republican National Convention. At stake are 25 delegates from 1,144 needed for the Republican nomination.
Romney walked into the South Carolina primary with 33 delegates, according to an Associated Press tally as Friday night, compared with 13 delegates to Rick Santorum.
AP makes calculating the running of the delegation, based on those given in the primaries and interviews with members of the Republican National Committee are free to support any presidential candidate.