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Nearly 80 million registered voters in the US have the opportunity to cast their vote for a presidential nominee on 'Super Tuesday' on February 5, where some two dozen states across America hold primaries and caucuses - the largest most ever on a single day in history.
However, a win of the popular vote for a candidate may not translate to a win that takes the individual further up the road to the White House.
What's key is the number of votes a candidate receives at a state primay or caucus from party delegates or voters affiliated with the political party choose candidates to represent their party in the Presidential election in November.
The party vote can differ to the popular vote and the one that counts will be the delegate's vote.
A candidate needs a majority win among delegates to become the party's nominee based on the results of primaries and caucases that are combined on a statewide basis to determine a state’s party nominee.
Although it is possible that no candidate will have a majority of delegates after February 5, each candidate is aiming for enough state victories to be viewed as the front-runner and gain sufficient momentum to pick up enough delegates quickly in the next set of primaries and caucuses.
Part of the reason for this is the fact that many states award their delegates proportionally. Democrats award all of their states' delegates proportionally, while some Republican states voting on February 5 use a winner-take-all system.
So in states using proportional representation, a second-place finish for a candidate can still turn into a win because of the sizable number of delegates.
A case in point is the Republican vote in earlier primaries and caucuses so far.
Arizona Senator John McCain is leading the race for the Republican presidential nomination despite finishing second in February 2 caucus in Maine to Mitt Romney.
McCain got a big boost on January 29 from winning the Florida primary, gathering the support of 102 delegates. This is opposed to Romney who gained 10 delegates vote in Maine, to finish with the backing of 69 delegates.
In the Democrat camp the South Carolina primary on January 26 awarded 45 delegates, the largest number so far, for Illinois Senator Barack Obama. This translated into 55 percent of the state's vote and 25 delegates for Obama, while New York Senator Hillary Clinton earned 12, followed by former North Carolina Senator John Edwards with eight delegates.
The Democrats also held a primary in Florida and Michigan, but no delegates were awarded because the states are being punished for breaking ranks and holding its contest ahead of 'Super Tuesday'.
The Democrat Party's use of proportional representation paired with the fact that the race has been a close one between candidate Barack Obama and Hillarty Clinton leads many political experts to believe that the Democrats are likely than the Republicans, to see the close race between candidates continuing after 'Super Tuesday'.
Holding the lead in primaries and caucuses isn't the end of the race.
The support of delegates must still translate into an endorsement for the candidate at the Party's National Convention in September or October. So if delegates in support for one candidate have a smaller representation at the Convention, the leading candidate could still see the tables being turned at the 11th hour. - CNA/sf
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