COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- More than 200,000 voters should turn out for South Carolina's Democratic presidential primary, nearly doubling the old party primary record, party chairman Joe Erwin says.
Calls to precincts around 2 p.m. Tuesday showed the primary had already drawn more than the 114,000 voters who turned out in the state's 1992 Democratic presidential primary, Erwin said.
Unless the turnout surpasses everyone's expectations, it won't even reach half of the 565,000 voters who gave President Bush the nod in the state's 2000 Republican presidential primary.
And even breaking the old Democratic primary record is a little misleading because the 1992 primary was held late in the season after Bill Clinton had effectively won the party's nomination.
Even so, Erwin said he is proud of how hard Democrats have worked to pull off the first-in-the-South primary despite constant questions about whether the party could pull it off. South Carolina is one of only two states where the parties must run their own primaries.
All but 23 of the state's nearly 2,000 voting places were able to open. The others had problems like construction or the lack of heat, Erwin said.
Not all the precincts opened promptly at 7 a.m. because building managers were unprepared. But with help from party officials in Columbia, Erwin said nearly all precincts were open by 8 a.m. and will remain open until 7 p.m.
"No major problems," Erwin said Tuesday afternoon, knocking on the podium.
Erwin also reported heavier-than-expected turnout in precincts with large numbers of black voters and also in Kershaw and Chesterfield counties, where special elections for state Senate were being held.
In Jenkinsville, Kamau Marcharia, a Fairfield County councilman, said he was visiting precincts to see if everything was running smoothly.
"My concern is that they didn't reach out and give poll people any training, so we just took matters in our own hands," said Marcharia, who came to a Jenkinsville precinct Tuesday to help the poll manager who "had never done this before."
The chairman said party officials had anticipated snafus and they were ready with signs to redirect voters to others precincts and local media were informed to help spread the word, Erwin said.
The weather also helped. A cold and rainy night in the Upstate turned into a sunny afternoon in the 50s in much of the area as well as the rest of South Carolina.
Turnover was light by midmorning at a polling place in northeast Columbia, workers said. And just 24 people had voted by 9 a.m. at a Newberry precinct, where roughly 800 people are registered to vote.
Darlington County Chairman Charles Govan said turnout was low in the Pee Dee.
"It's low. At most of the precincts, if you have 1,200 or 1,500 people registered and you've only voted 15 or 20, to me that's low," he said. "The weather was kind of cold earlier this morning."
There was a delay opening in at least one precinct in the area.
"The basic problem is getting volunteers," Govan said. "It's been very difficult to find volunteers."
State party officials were hoping that by dropping the controversial voter oath requirement just hours before Tuesday's first-in-the-South primary, independents and even some Republicans would flock to the polls.
At least one man who identified himself as an independent said he wasn't going to vote at the Columbia precinct, but changed his mind when he got to the polls and learned he didn't have to sign an oath that read: "I consider myself to be a Democrat."
Mariscia Thompson, 34, who considers herself a Democrat, voted for South Carolina native John Edwards, who is banking on a win in his home state.
Leroy Miller, 56, who also considers himself Democrat, voted for Gen. Wesley Clark after narrowing the field of seven candidates to two.
"I just feel he's strong on his issues because of his military background," Miller said. "I feel that makes him a strong candidate. I think he is for the people."
Miller said jobs and health care were his biggest concerns, and he finally chose between two war veterans -- Clark and front-runner John Kerry.
He also was upset with the Bush administration.
"We've spent so much money to have the war and now we have to spend money to get out," he said. "I think we ought to get our troops out of Iraq."
In Leesville, a poll manager said turnout was good by midday.
Clinton Ridgell, 47, who is self-employed, said he voted for Kerry.
Kerry "said he would try to bring more jobs to South Carolina. I think we do need a change. I'd rather have somebody who can fight a war and know what a war is."
But can Kerry beat president Bush?
"Yes, that's the reason I'm voting for him. If it wasn't for that, I'd be voting for (Al) Sharpton."