Low turnout in South Carolina primary as some Democratic voters eye GOP contest instead

Despite a major push from the Biden campaign and national Democrats for strong turnout in the South Carolina primary, the vote count was far below what was recorded in the 2020 nominating contest as some registered Democrats eye the GOP primary later this month.

The primary election was called for President Joe Biden shortly after the polls closed at 7 p.m., with the president earning 96% of the vote and easily besting his two challengers, Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) and author Marianne Williamson. But with about 95% of the results tallied, only 131,870 ballots were cast — far below the 539,263 who voted in the more competitive Democratic primary in 2020.