Biden’s South Carolina win dimmed by 4% turnout: ‘Don’t think we’re building a new blue wall’
By
Christian Datoc
February 4, 2024 6:18 pm
COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA — President Joe Biden may have had a landslide victory in South Carolina that put to rest lingering doubts about his march to the Democratic nomination, but concerns remain about excitement for November.
While black early voting numbers were strong, overall turnout on Saturday was abysmal at 4%, with even one of Biden’s top allies acknowledging he’ll have a hard time counting on the South for any pickup opportunities in the general election, where he’ll most likely face a rematch with former President Donald Trump.
Despite Democratic Party efforts to get voters to the polls to show enthusiasm for Biden and his choice to make South Carolina the kick-off state for his reelection bid, both total turnout and overall early voting numbers plummeted in South Carolina’s primary compared to 2020.
Just 131,286 South Carolinians took part in the Democratic primary, with 96% of those votes going to Biden, and just over 55,000 of those votes were cast ahead of Saturday. South Carolina had 3,226,353 registered voters heading into the primary, yielding an extremely low participation rate of just over 4%.
For comparison, the 2020 primary saw 16% of registered South Carolinians turn out, with Biden winning nearly 49% of all ballots cast. That year, Biden mounted a comeback in the Palmetto State when he beat Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), businessman Tom Steyer, now-Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and others on his way to win the nomination.
more
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/2836075/bidens-win-south-carolina-dimmed-low-voter-turnout/
