Polls opened in South Carolina’ presidential primary election Saturday, where Democratic voters will choose between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. This is the final contest before next week’s crucial Super Tuesday vote when more than a thousand delegates for the Democratic presidential nomination will be awarded.

Chris Williams, a voter from Columbia, South Carolina, told VOA he voted for Hillary Clinton because “she’s the most qualified and has the best ideas for this country moving forward.” Williams said he found Bernie Sanders’ policies “a bit vague.”

Jerry Shipes, a retired postal worker from Columbia, South Carolina, said he voted for Bernie Sanders because “he seemed like more of the man of the people and the middle class.”

Clinton leading in polls

Statewide polls show Clinton leading Sanders by a commanding 50-percentage point margin heading into the vote.

“The South Carolina primary is personally important to me because I want to send a strong signal that South Carolina is ready for change,” Clinton said Friday at a rally in Columbia, South Carolina.

A win by a wide margin in South Carolina would firm up support for Clinton among African-Americans, a key demographic of the Democratic electorate, and establish her electoral viability nationwide. She gained the endorsement of the state’s influential African-American Congressman James Clyburn last week.

Sanders appeared to anticipate a loss to Clinton in South Carolina. He has not campaigned in the state in recent days, focusing instead on rallies in states that vote next Tuesday.

“We are fighting the fight for the survival of the working class of this country,” he told supporters at a rally in Minnesota Friday.

The race between Clinton and Sanders has been close in the last three contests with Clinton narrowly beating Sanders in the Iowa caucus, losing to him by a wide margin in New Hampshire and winning by a five-percentage point difference in the Nevada caucus last week.
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