Mitt Romney won both the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary to start the 2012 GOP nominating process for presidential candidates, according to the Associated Press and the Ticket. South Carolina is next for all six mainstream Republican candidates who are vying for a spot in November's general election against incumbent President Barack Obama.
Here's a look at the importance of South Carolina to the nomination of the Republican choice for president.
Process
South Carolina's presidential preference primary election will be held Saturday, Jan. 21. Rarely are elections held on Saturday, but South Carolina has upheld the importance of the contest by holding the election on a weekend.
The South Carolina State Election Commission states anyone who is registered can vote in the presidential preference primary election. South Carolina doesn't have voter registration by party and anyone can vote for a person on the ballot. There are nine candidates on the official ballot for the primary election. Anyone who votes will need a valid driver's license, photo ID or a voter registration card to their polling place. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. across South Carolina.
Candidates
South Carolina's official GOP website states all six remaining candidates for president will make stops in South Carolina Jan. 11, less than 24 hours after New Hampshire's primary closes. Texas Gov. Rick Perry starts things off with a campaign event in Lexington at Lizard's Thicket at 9 a.m. Jan. 11. Mitt Romney appears later in the evening alongside Gov. Nikki Haley in Columbia at 6 p.m. Haley endorsed Romney for president and will help kick off the week and a half remaining until South Carolina's primary.
Time magazine reports the latest polls reveal Romney is still the favorite. Potential voters were surveyed just after Rick Santorum's narrow second place finish in Iowa. Romney was surveyed to be the front-runner with 37 percent of the voters selecting him. Santorum had 19 percent. Both men gained double-digit support in recent weeks. Perry is down at five percent.
Demographics
As of Jan. 1, there are 2,722,344 registered voters in South Carolina. The county with the most registered voters is Greenville County in the northwest part of the state. Voters in Greenville County account for just over 272,000 registered voters or around 10 percent. There are 46 counties in South Carolina, all of which participate in the electoral process.
In 2008, there were 2,246,242 registered voters for the presidential primary. Of those, 438,481 voted in the Republican primary for a turnout of 19.5 percent. Sen. John McCain won South Carolina with 147,686 votes, which was just over a third of the total votes cast. Mike Huckabee came in second. Romney was a distant fourth place with 68,142 votes (15.5 percent).
William Browning is a research librarian specializing in U.S. politics. Born in St. Louis, Browning is active in local politics and served as a campaign volunteer for President Barack Obama and Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill.
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