Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at a rally to promote early voting ahead of Super Tuesday at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016 in Pine Bluff, Ark. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)
The people’s votes are in, and it looks like Donald Trump and Arkansas’s own Hillary Clinton stole the show on Super Tuesday, with both taking seven states.
As for the other candidates, on the Republican side Ted Cruz came out with three states, Alaska, Oklahoma and Texas. Marco Rubio took Minnesota. Trump’s momentum is pumping on all cylinders now, it appears, with most all southern states showing up in droves for the candidate.
Staff Photo Nick Brothers
Fayetteville voters cast their ballots on electronic touch screens at the Central United Methodist Church polling place on Dickson St. on Super Tuesday, March 1.
The Democrat side shows a bit more of a contest between Clinton and Bernie Sanders. While Clinton swept in the South — states that will likely vote red in November — Sanders had four not-even close wins in the West and North. For an outsider like Sanders, that’s impressive considering he’s up against one of the most recognizable names in politics. Still, where Clinton is beating Sanders, the numbers are staggering.
It’s important to note that the presidential primary isn’t winner takes all like in the general election with electoral candidate votes. Arkansas has 40 Republican and 37 Democratic delegates.
FILE – In this Feb. 19, 2016, file photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gestures during a campaign stop in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Well before Donald Trump was leading the race for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, there was Jesse “The Body” Ventura, the former professional wrestler, radio talk show host and suburban mayor who, in his own election-night words, “shocked the world” with his improbable 1998 gubernatorial victory in Minnesota. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke File)
The Democratic Party uses a proportional system that represents the percentage of the votes the candidate receives. The Republican Party’s delegate policy varies by state, and Arkansas has a winner-takes-all policy once a candidate secure more than 50 percent of the statewide vote, otherwise the delegates are proportionally given out if the candidate breaks 15 percent of the statewide vote.
Then there are superdelegates who can vote for whomever they wish. If all of that sounds confusing, it’s because it is.
This was a popular year for the primary compared to previous years, though. Early voting in Arkansas had the highest turnout out of recent primary and non-partisan judge elections, according to the secretary of state’s office.
By Friday, 141,046 Arkansans had cast ballots since early voting began Feb. 15. Chris Powell, spokesman for the secretary of state’s office, said about 100,000 ballots were cast in early voting for the 2012 and 2014 primaries.
Here are the results from Tuesday from our parent company, The Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazzette.
