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US Super Tuesday elections: All the latest updates

Biden surges with victories in nine Super Tuesday states, including Texas as Sanders takes four, including California.

Biden and Sanders composite [EPA]
Biden and Sanders composite [EPA]
By Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath, Joseph Stepansky and Jihan Abdalla
Published On 4 Mar 2020

Voters went to the polls in 14 US states and one territory on Tuesday in the largest day of voting in the United States primary season.

More than two-thirds of the delegates needed to secure the Democratic nomination – 1,357 out of the 1,991 needed – at the party’s convention in July were up for grabs. California and Texas were the day’s biggest prizes, with 415 and 228 delegates, respectively.

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Super Tuesday came amid a number of fast-moving developments for the Democratic Party: Former Vice President Joe Biden received endorsements from Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar, who dropped out of the race just ahead of the big election day. That proved to be a boost for Biden, who surged across the US.

Senator Bernie Sanders may not have won the most number of states on Tuesday, but he did take the largest prize of the night: California.

Meanwhile, Senator Elizabeth Warren, billionaire Michael Bloomberg and US Representative had poor Super Tuesday showings.

Here are all the latest updates:

07:08 GMT – Biden wins Texas, the second biggest contest

Joe Biden has won the Democratic primary in Texas, Super Tuesday’s second biggest contest.

It might be one of the most surprising victories of the night as Sanders had hoped to win in the state, which has a large Latino population. It’s still unclear exactly how many state delegates will be rewarded to each candidate. Texas has 228 delegates.

epa08268327 Former US Vice President Joe Biden speaks during his Super Tuesday event at the Baldwin Hills Recreational Center in Los Angeles, California, USA, 03 March 2020. Fourteen states are holdin
Former US Vice President Joe Biden speaks during his Super Tuesday event at the Baldwin Hills Recreational Center in Los Angeles, California [Etienne Lauren/EPA-EFE]

06:45 GMT – From crowded field to two-man Democratic race

Even though we’re still awaiting results in Texas, Maine and California, if there’s anything Super Tuesday  has shown so far, is that the US is now looking at virtually a two-man contest: Biden v Sanders.

The Democratic field was once one of the biggest and most diverse in US history, with more than 25 candidates.

Sanders and Biden [Reuters]
Sanders and Biden in a combination of images [Reuters]

Biden and Sanders offer Democratic voters quite a stark difference. Biden represents the more moderate wing of the party, while Sanders offers a more progressive platform.

On a technicality note, Warren, Bloomberg and Gabbard remain in the race.

06:30 GMT – Bloomberg to reassess campaign

Bloomberg will reassess the future of his campaign after a disappointing showing on Super Tuesday.

That does not mean, however, his bid for the Democratic nomination will end, however, a campaign official said.

“As our campaign manager said before the polls closed tonight, any campaign would reassess after tonight, after next week, after any time there was a vote,” said Bloomberg national press secretary Julie Wood.

Bloomberg poured more than half a billion dollars into political advertising and organising in Super Tuesday state. His only victory, however, was American Samoa.

05:45 GMT – Voters are still waiting in line in Texas

Jolt Action, a Texas-based progressive Latino civic engagement organisation, reported dozens of people were still waiting in line to vote at Texas Southern University. It’s past 11:30pm there.

Long lines were reported in a number of Texas cities and especially on university campuses.

Hundreds of polling sites have been closed in recent years. An analysis by The Guardian newspaper found that the closures have disproportionately affected minority groups.

Sanders tweeted about an hour ago: “If you’re in line to vote, stay in line.”

05:15 GMT – A look at the delegate count so far

Here’s a quick look at the overall delegate count so far after Super Tuesday.

  • Biden : 376
  • Sanders: 295
  • Bloomberg: 32
  • Warren: 24
  • Gabbard: 1

Remember, however, we still don’t know exactly how many delegates each candidate will win in the big states of California and Texas. We’re also awaiting results in Maine.

A candidate needs 1,991 delegates to clinch the nomination

04:22 GMT – A recap of where we are right now

So far, Biden has had an impressive night with an early surge in a number of states, including Virginia, Minnesota and North Carolina. It was the night he was hoping for after gaining last-minute endorsements from Buttigieg and Klobuchar, both of whom dropped out of the race just before Super Tuesday.

Sanders lagged behind early in the night, but picked up the biggest prize: California.

Remember, however, the primaries are not a winner-takes-all scenario, meaning that even though a candidate may have lost a state, he or she could still pick up delegates. We still don’t know how many delegates Sanders won in California.

Warren and Bloomberg have so far had disappointing nights, with reports that the former New York City mayor will reassess his candidacy later this week.

Which states have the candidates won so far? 

  • Biden: Alabama, Arkansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Virginia.
  • Sanders: He is projected to win California. He also saw victories in Colorado, Utah and Vermont.
  • Bloomberg: American Samoa
  • Which states are left? We’re still awaiting results from Texas and Maine.

04:05 GMT – Sanders takes biggest Super Tuesday state: California

Sanders wins California, the biggest prize on Super Tuesday, the Associated Press projected just as the polls began to close. The state has 415 delegates.

sanders
Supporters of US Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders cheer at his Super Tuesday election night rally in Essex Junction, Vermont [Caitlin Ochs/Reuters]

03:52 GMT – In upset, Biden wins Massachusetts

Biden wins Massachusetts in an upset victory over Warren, who represents the state in the US Senate.

03:50 GMT – Sanders campaign files emergency injunction in California

The Sanders campaign has filed an emergency injunction asking for polls to stay open for two extra hours in Los Angeles County, Reuters news agency report, citing a court filing.

03:25 GMT – Sanders gets his third win in Utah

As Sanders expressed confidence in Vermont, US networks called Utah for the senator.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., accompanied by his wife Jane O’Meara Sanders, speaks during a primary night election rally in Essex Junction, Vt., Tuesday, March 3, 2020.
Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders, accompanied by his wife Jane O’Meara Sanders, speaks during a primary night election rally in Essex Junction, Vermont [Matt Rourke/AP Photo]

03:00 GMT – Long lines reported in parts of Texas

Parts of Texas, including in university student hubs, are reporting long – extremely long – lines at polling centres.

Any voter who is in line when the polls close will get to vote.

02:50 GMT – Biden picks up Arkansas

Biden wins the Democratic presidential primary in Arkansas

02:48 GMT – Where the delegate count stands so far

Without hearing from the big Super Tuesday states – Texas and California – here’s a look at where the delegate count stands so far:

  • Joe Biden: 257
  • Bernie Sanders: 152
  • Michael Bloomberg: 17
  • Elizabeth Warren: 12

02:46 GMT – Minnesota becomes Biden’s 6th state

Biden wins his sixth state of the night with a victory in Minnesota. He wasn’t polling well there just a week ago, but it appears his last-minute endorsement by Amy Klobuchar propelled him to victory.

02:22 GMT – Biden wins Tennessee

Biden picks up another win in Tennessee, where several polling locations stayed open late after tornadoes ripped through the state early Tuesday morning.

02:09 GMT – Biden gets another victory – this time in Oklahoma

Biden wins the Democratic primary in Oklahoma

Biden
Democratic US presidential candidate and former US Vice President Joe Biden pays for ice-cream at La Michoacana during the state’s Super Tuesday Democratic presidential primary election in Los Angeles, California [Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters]

02:00 GMT – Sanders wins Colorado

Sanders scores his second win of the night in Colorado

01:30 GMT – Polls close in Arkansas

Polls close in Arkansas where Biden is looking to continue his strong night. No results have been reported yet.

01:17 GMT – Where the delegate count stands so far

Here’s what the delegate count looks like after several Super Tuesday races were called. Don’t forget, however, that Texas and California, which each have big delegate totals, likely won’t be called for hours.

  • Joe Biden: 100
  • Bernie Sanders: 80
  • Elizabeth Warren: 8
  • Michael Bloomberg: 4

*A candidate needs 1,991 delegates to win. 

01:05 GMT – It’s Biden in Alabama

Again, the networks and even the normally cautious Associated Press called Alabama for Biden immediately after the polls closed there at 8pm local.

01:00 GMT – Elizabeth Warren remains upbeat in Detroit speech

An upbeat Elizabeth Warren is urging Democratic voters to cast ballots that will make them “proud” instead of listening to political pundits.

At a rally in Detroit on Tuesday night, the Massachusetts senator says “prediction has been a terrible business” and is encouraging people to vote with their “heart.” Warren has had poor showings in recent contests dominated by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden.

An undeterred Warren says she will defeat President Donald Trump and is still running because she believes she will make the best president. She says: “You don’t get what you don’t fight for. I am in this fight.”

00:45 GMT – Bloomberg get first win of the evening in American Samoa

Michael Bloomberg scores his first win of the evening in the US territory of American Samoa, which held caucuses today. Not much of a surprise, though, given that he had seven paid staffers on the ground there and chief Fa’alagiga Nina Tua’au-Glaude endorsed him in the race. Curiously, another Democrat still in the race – Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii – was born in American Samoa.

00:35 GMT – Networks call North Carolina for Biden

Both CBS News and NBC News called North Carolina for Biden immediately after the polls closed in that state at 730pm local time.

00:10 GMT – Sanders takes Vermont

ABC News calls Vermont for Bernie Sanders right after the polls close there. Not exactly a surprise as Vermont is his home state. The outstanding question in this race is Sanders’ margin of victory. Can he keep all the other candidates under 15 percent and deprive them of any of Vermont’s 16 delegates?

00:00 GMT (Wednesday) – Biden takes Virginia

The Associated Press called Virginia for Joe Biden immediately after the polls closed at 7pm local.

Headed into this evening, Virginia was being watched as a bellwether state. It is traditionally a swing state but has moved more reliably Democratic in recent years, especially as people living in densely populated communities outside Washington turned their back on President Donald Trump, as many suburban voters have around the country.

Exit polls suggest that Michael Bloomberg may not get the 15 percent he needs in order to get any delegates at all, a massive hit for him given the amount of money he has spent on advertising in the state. If that pans out and continues across the remaining states, then its probably curtains for the former New York City mayor.

23:40 GMT – When will polls close?

The 14 states voting on Tuesday cover nearly all time zones in the US. Here’s a look at when polling stations close across the US.

Closing at 7:00pm EST (00:00 GMT)

  • Vermont and Virginia

Closing at 7:30pm EST (00:30 GMT)

  • North Carolina

Closing at 8:00pm EST (01:00 GMT)

  • Alabama, Maine, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas

Closing at 8:30pm EST (01:30 GMT)

  • Arkansas

Closing at 9pm EST (02:00 GMT)

  • Colorado, Minnesota, El Paso, Texas

Closing at 10pm EST (03:00 GMT)

  • Utah

Closing at 11pm EST (04:00 GMT)

  • California

23:30 GMT – Democrats Abroad give Sanders an early boost

Democrats Abroad, the overseas affiliate of the Democratic Party, is also holding primary elections around the world beginning today. The voting goes on for several more days, but some early results are starting to trickle in and, in at least one locale, they look good for Bernie Sanders.

23:10 GMT – Health care tops list of voter concerns

If exit polls are any indication, voters across several US states believe health care is the most important issue facing the United States today. Exit polls cited by both the Associated Press News Agency and Reuters on Tuesday both said it was at the top of voters’ concerns.

A third of the voters surveyed by the AP pollsters in North Carolina, Alabama, and Virginia said health care was the top issue. More than half told the Reuters pollsters that they support a single-payer system, which is what Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have been pushing for with their Medicare for All plans.

22:40 GMT – Tennessee polls extended

Tennessee’s democratic party announced that several polling places will stay open an additional hour to allow voters to cast their ballot after the state was hit by a devastating storm that killed 25 people and shattered entire neighbourhoods.

More than a dozen polling places in Nashville’s Davidson County damaged, voters were sent to other locations, some of them with long lines.

The party filed a suit calling for the extension.

22:25 GMT – Free from interference

National security professionals in northern Virginia who were monitoring cyberattacks and foreign disinformation said the Super Tuesday primary elections were so far free from any signs of interference.

“On the specifics of today, we have not seen any acute increase in any misinformation,” said Christopher Krebs, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency of the Department of Homeland Security.

22:20 GMT – First time voters and coronavirus

An exit poll showed that less than 2 out of 10 voters are first time primary voters, and at least 8 out of 10 say they will support the party nominee regardless of who it is.

About three out of four Democratic primary voters in California, Texas, Virginia and North Carolina said the new coronavirus was a factor in their vote, according to exit polls analysed by Edison Research.

21:45 GMT – Tacos and a Mariachi band

A group of young Latino students in Houston, Texas took promoting voting (and taco Tuesday) to another level: free tacos and a live mariachi band.

Under the slogan, “nourish your rights”, young people marched alongside the lively mariachi band while others posed for pictures with tacos in hand.

20:50 GMT – Sanders votes in Vermont

Sanders and his wife Jane voted in their home state of Vermont, and told a crowd of reporters outside a polling place in Burlington that his campaign was about defeating Trump, who is the “the most dangerous president in the modern history of our country.”

“We are putting together a multi-generational, multi-racial movement of people who are standing up for justice and to beat Donald Trump, we are going to need to have the largest voter turnout in the history of this country,” he said.

Sanders is planning on holding an election night rally in Vermont.

20:45 GMT – Trump will be watching

Speaking on the White House lawn as he was heading to a roundtable on coronavirus Trump said he would be watching the results of Super Tuesday.

“I think it’s going to be a very interesting evening of television and I will be watching,” he told reporters.

Trump added that he does not have a favourite to run against in November, saying “I’ll take anybody I have to.”

20:00 GMT – Sanders team surprised by speed of Biden rise: Report

Bernie Sanders’s campaign was not expecting the speedy surge of moderate support for rival Joe Biden following his win in South Carolina, his campaign manager told the New York Times.

“We always anticipated that there would be consolidation of an establishment side,” Faiz Shakir told the newspaper. “It’s one thing to know it’s going to happen, and it’s another thing to watch it happen so very quickly.”

“Because of the swiftness with which it moved, it’s becoming clear that in order for us to win this nomination, that road clearly flows through Joe Biden,” he said.

19:30 GMT – Biden campaign launches Klobuchar ad

Less than a day after endorsing Joe Biden, Senator and former Democratic candidate Amy Klobuchar has appeared in ad supporting her former rival.

The ad is airing in the Minneapolis area in Klobuchar’s home state of Minnesota, one of fourteen states with primaries on Tuesday, Politico reported, citing Biden’s campaign.

“It is time to turn back the division and the hate,” Klobuchar says in the ad, which uses footage from her endorsement announcement on Monday. “Vote for decency. Vote for dignity. Vote for a heart for our country.”

19:20 GMT – Former FBI Director James Comey supports Biden

Former FBI Director James Comey has thrown his support behind Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.

Comey tweeted Tuesday that he had voted in his first Democratic primary and that he believes the country needs a candidate “who cares about all Americans and will restore decency, dignity to the office”.

Comey had served in both Republican and Democratic administrations. He was fired as FBI director by Trump in May 2017.

The Biden campaign, however, didn’t seem terribly appreciative of the nod. Comey, a Republican, was fired by Trump in 2017 and remains a polarizing figure even in Democratic circles.

Bates is the Biden campaign rapid response director.

19:00 GMT – Democratic operative tells RNC chair to ‘go to hell’

Former Democratic National Committee Chair Donna Brazile, appearing on Fox News Channel, clashed with Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel, telling her to “go to hell” after the Republican party chief said the Democratic primaries will be “rigged” against Bernie Sanders.

“Stay the hell out of our race,” Brazile said, referring to Republicans in general. “For people to use Russian talking points to sow division among Americans is stupid. So Ronna, go to hell!”

18:45 GMT – No noticeable uptick in cyber attacks: Gov’t official

The national agency that oversees election security has not detected any notable uptick in either misinformation by foreign nations or targeted attacks on voting equipment during the first hours of voting during Super Tuesday.

Misinformation campaigns by Russian operatives and others are ongoing but there hasn’t been “any appreciable increase in activity,” as voters go to the polls for Super Tuesday, senior officials with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency told reporters, according to Reuters news agency.

Super Tuesday Maine
Louise Wilcox checks her ballots after coming out of a booth while voting in the primary election in Maine [Robert F. Bukaty/The Associated Press]

18:20 GMT – Election Protection coalition calls for extension of Tennessee primary

Election Protection, a national coalition that works to ensure election integrity, has called on Tennessee officials to extend the state’s primary after severe storms and tornadoes caused widespread destruction.

In a letter to the Tennessee’s governor and secretary of state, the group said that “the storm has made it difficult, if not impossible, for many people to vote in today’s primary election”.

The group also noted that the severe weather, which has killed at 22 people, has forced at least 24 polling stations to relocate.

18:00 GMT – Coronavirus fears loom over Super Tuesday

Super Tuesday has begun amid a backdrop of an escalating political and economic crisis over the global outbreak of the coronavirus, which has infected some 90,000 people worldwide and killed more than 3,000, mostly in China.

In Travis County, Texas, voting got off to a slow start because many election workers did not show up, with some citing coronavirus fears, Reuters news agency reported, citing the county clerk’s office. The election office said it began implementing emergency procedures, with elections staff and others employees filling in as poll workers.

super tuesday
Wearing a mask as a precaution against passing or receiving germs, Joseph Dorocak casts his ballot on the eve of Super Tuesday at a voting center in Sacramento [Rich Pedroncelli/The Associated Press]

One California county sought to address concerns over the coronavirus by sending bottles of hand sanitizer to polling places and asking poll workers to post fliers from the public health department on how to avoid spreading the virus, according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) released guidance for polling stations instructing workers to frequently wash their hands and disinfect the machine and told those with symptoms to stay home.

17:45 GMT – Immigrant and Refugee rights group releases candidate score card

The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) has released an immigration policy score card for each of the candidates.

The Texas-based non-profit judged each candidate based on 36 policy points falling under three categories “equality and inclusion for all people”, “build bridges not walls”, and “we were here because you were there”, which looks at foreign policy.

Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders scored the highest with “B-“, while Joe Biden was given a “C+” while Mike Bloomberg and Donald Trump were each given an “F”.

17:30 GMT – Report highlights difficulty of voting for transgender Americans

About 378,000 of an estimated 965,350 transgender adults who will be eligible to vote in the US 2020 general election could face barriers because they do not have an ID that correctly reflects their name or gender, according to a report by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law published in February.

Of those, nearly 81 transgender adults live in the eight states with the strictest forms of voter ID laws and risk disenfranchisement: Super Tuesday states Alabama, Tennessee, and Virginia, as well as Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, and Wisconsin.

The American Civil Liberties Union tweeted about the potential problem on Tuesday, and urged any voters facing issues to call the non-partisan Election Protection Hotline.

17:00 GMT – Analysis: Virginia the state to watch on Super Tuesday

Jonathan Last, a conservative US pundit and prominent never-Trumper, has some good analysis over at the Bulwark about what state is worth watching particularly close today – Virginia.

Why? “…because it has a mix of lots of different types of Democratic voters: African-Americans, college-educated suburbanites, union workers, and rural voters. There are no dense urban cores and not a lot of heavy industry, but it might be a pretty good bellwether,” Last writes.

He continues: “I suspect we are on the way to a protracted battle for the soul of the Democratic party that pits two very different coalitions against one another: African-Americans, union workers, and college-educated suburbanites versus progressives, young Hispanics, and populist outsiders.”

Former Vice President Joe Biden is currently projected to win an average of 52 out of the state’s 99 pledged delegates.

16:45 GMT – Bloomberg acknowledges only path to victory is convention fight

Mike Bloomberg is acknowledging that his only path to the nomination is through a convention fight, while suggesting he may not win any states on Super Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters at a field office in Miami, the business mogul and former mayor of New York City said, “I don’t know whether you’re gonna win any” when he was asked which of the 14 states voting Tuesday he believed he could win, according to the Associated Press news agency.

Bloomberg added, “You don’t have to win states, you have to win delegates.” He suggested that no one will get a majority of delegates and “then you go to a convention, and we’ll see what happens.”

Bloomberg was then asked if he wanted a contested convention and he said, “I don’t think that I can win any other way.”

16:30 GMT – Tennessee not the only state facing severe Super Tuesday weather

In rural central Alabama, the National Weather Service had issued tornado warnings for at least five counties as polls began to open.

In Bibb County, southwest of Birmingham, as seven poll workers were getting ready to open up the Lawley Senior Activity Center, cellphone alerts began going off with a tornado warning about 6:45 AM, volunteer Gwen Thompson told the Associated Press news agency.

https://twitter.com/TNforMike/status/1234845341360496640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

The storm knocked out electricity, she said, but the precinct’s two electronic voting machines had battery backups and a few people had cast ballots less than an hour later.

“We’re voting by flashlight,” Thompson said.

In Tennessee, tornadoes had killed 19 people early Tuesday, and forced many polling stations to relocate.

tennessee tornado
A man walks through storm debris following a deadly tornado in Nashville, Tennessee on Tuesday [Mark Humphrey/The Associated Press]

16:15 GMT – Time for Warren’s political obituary?

The New York Times already appears to be writing Elizabeth Warren’s political obituary this morning:

“Now, as voters head to the polls on Super Tuesday, Ms. Warren’s campaign has all but admitted her pathway to winning the Democratic nomination outright has vanished. She enters March seeking to accumulate delegates for a potential contested convention and is most realistically hunting for them in more educated enclaves, like Seattle and Denver, where she recently held rallies and is investing heavily in advertising.”

“In many ways, the arc of the Warren candidacy is the story of her cornering an upscale demographic early, only to become confined to it, and then lose her grip on it,” the newspaper says.

The Times calls that upscale demographic the “wine track” of Democratic politics: white, affluent and college-educated voters, especially women.

Warren voted in her home state of Massachusetts in the last hour and didn’t sound like someone who is giving up just yet. But polls there have her trailing Sanders by 4 points. If she can’t win her own state, odds are that she’s not going to do terribly well nationally.

16:00 GMT – Bernie Sanders casts vote in Vermont

Bernie Sanders, the frontrunner heading into Super Tuesday, has cast his vote in his home city of Burlington, Vermont.

“To beat Donald Trump, we are going to need to have the largest voter turnout in the history of this country. We need energy. We need excitement. I think our campaign is that campaign,” he said.

Polls indicate an all-but-sure majority for Sanders in the state, where he is forecasted to take an average of 12 of the 16 pledged delegates.

15:45 GMT – Elizabeth Warren casts vote in Massachusetts

Elizabeth Warren has cast her ballot in her hometown of Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In a video posted to her Instagram page, Warren speaks to a group of children before casting her ballot. As she leaves, a crowd of supports chants “welcome home”.

Warren has eight delegates heading into Super Tuesday, far behind Bernie Sanders 60 and Joe Biden’s 54. She has vowed to stay in the race until the party’s national convention in July.

15:30 GMT – Sanders maintains demographic edge in key states: Report

Bernie Sanders may have the establishment apparatus of the Democratic Party lined up against him, but an analysis of voter preferences by congressional district concluded that he maintains a demographic edge over Joe Biden in key states like California and Texas with huge delegate counts.

The analysis of census data by the University of Southern California Program for Environmental and Regional Equity, provided to CNN, concludes that because Sanders performs well among Hispanic voters and white voters without college degrees, he has a strong chance of earning delegates in congressional districts where those voters compose at least a quarter of the eligible electorate.

Meanwhile, there are fewer Super Tuesday districts where Black voters and white voters with college degrees, who have been more resistant to Sanders, are prevalent, according to the analysis.

CAlifornia Voting
People vote on the deck of the Echo Park Deep Pool in Los Angeles, California [Mario Anzuoni/Reuters]

This is critical because, unlike the November general election, in which electoral college votes go to whichever candidate wins a state’s popular vote, many of the delegates in today’s primary elections will be distributed proportionally.

It’s not just about winning states, it’s about how much you win by and how much of the vote you get in both states and congressional districts. There are no winner-take-all states.

15:15 GMT – Polls have opened in California

Polls have opened in the California, a state with 415 delegates up for grabs, the most of any Super Tuesday states.

Sanders is expected to win the majority, an average of 32 percent of the vote, according to polling by FiveThirtyEight. That equates to about 164 delegates, according to their forecasts.

California voters who had already mailed in their ballot for a candidate who has since quit the race will be out of luck, as there is no provision in the state’s election law for a redo.

15:00 GMT – Super Tuesday first contest to show latino influence

Super Tuesday is expected to be the first primary where the influence of the Latino vote will be felt, according to a report by Reuters news agency.

Accounting for 13.3 percent of eligible voters, Latinos will be the largest minority voting group in the general election, according to the Pew Research Center.

That is an 80 percent jump since 2000, and compares to a share of black voters that has been roughly level since then at around 12 percent, and a white share that has fallen 10 percentage points to an estimated 66 percent of the eligible electorate.

Latinas for Warren
Supporters listen as US Democratic Presidential Candidate Elizabeth Warren speaks at a rally at East Los Angeles College in Los Angeles [Lucy Nicholson/Reuters]

The Latino vote helped shaped recent local races in North Carolina and flipped California Congressional districts in 2018, according to Reuters, both Super Tuesday states.

With Latino populations leaning Democratic by about a two-to-one margin, Super Tuesday states like Texas and North Carolina could become increasingly competitive for democrats, along with Florida and Arizona, whose primaries are later in March.

14:20 GMT – How will Biden’s victory in South Carolina affect the race?

The short turnaround between Saturday’s primary in South Carolina, which Biden ran away with, and today’s voting means there hasn’t been much in the way of polling to gauge what impact, if any, that outcome had on voters. This morning, we got one from Data for Progress, a progressive thing-tank.

Here’s a breakdown of the numbers just after the Nevada caucuses, which Sanders dominated, and South Carolina:

Post-Nevada:

  • Colorado: Sanders over Biden by 24 points
  • North Carolina: Sanders over Biden by 2 points.
  • Texas: Sanders over Biden by 9 points
  • Virginia: Sanders over Biden by 9 points

Post South Carolina:

  • Colorado: Sanders over Biden by 14 points
  • North Carolina: Biden over Sanders by 9 points
  • Texas: Biden over Sanders by 2 points
  • Virginia: Biden over Sanders by 15 Points.

Nate Silver over at FiveThirtyEight, one of the top American political prognosticators, has adjusted his projections and now predicts Biden winning the delegate race against Sanders, but failing to secure enough to win the nomination outright.

Sanders remains firmly in the lead in FiveThirtyEight average of national polls.

A brokered convention remains the odds-on favourite.

13:39 GMT – Trump kicks off Super Tuesday with tweets aimed at Bloomberg

Trump kicked off his Twitter game on Tuesday with tweets aimed at Michael Bloomberg.

“Mini Mike Bloomberg can never recover from his incompetent debate performances,” Trump tweeted, using his self-declared nickname for the former New York City mayor.

“Also as mayor he was very bad under pressure – a chocker!” Trump added without elaborating.

13:00 GMT – When will polls close?

The 14 states voting on Tuesday cover nearly all time zones in the US. Here’s a look at when polling stations close across the US.

Closing at 7:00pm EST (00:00 GMT)

  • Vermont and Virginia

Closing at 7:30pm EST (00:30 GMT)

  • North Carolina

Closing at 8:00pm EST (01:00 GMT)

  • Alabama, Maine, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas

Closing at 8:30pm EST (01:30 GMT)

  • Arkansas

Closing at 9pm EST (02:00 GMT)

  • Colorado, Minnesota, El Paso, Texas

Closing at 10pm EST (03:00 GMT)

  • Utah

Closing at 11pm EST (04:00 GMT)

  • California

12:52 GMT – Tornadoes kill 7, affect polling stations in Tennessee

Tornadoes that ripped through parts of Tennessee, early on Tuesday, killing at least seven people, have closed some polling stations in the state.

The city government of Nashville said voters whose polling stations were hit by the twister can vote at two Election Commission office locations instead.

Polling across Davidson County, where Nashville is located, are also opening an hour late due to the tornado. The tornados also affected the counties of Putnam and Benton.

Tennessee tornado
A resident makes her way down a street amid downed trees and heavy debris in Nashville, Tennessee [Brett Carlsen/Getty Images/AFP]

12:41 GMT – #IVoted: Voters share voting experiences online

Voters in the East Coast Super Tuesday states and those abroad are taking to social media to share their voting experiences online.

12:07 GMT – How many delegates are up for grabs in each state?

More than 1,300 delegates are up for grabs on Tuesday. Here’s the breakdown based on state:

  • California: 415
  • Texas: 228
  • North Carolina: 110
  • Virginia: 99
  • Massachusetts: 91
  • Minnesota: 75
  • Colorado: 67
  • Tennessee: 64
  • Alaska: 31
  • Utah: 29
  • Maine: 24
  • Vermont: 16
  • Democrats abroad: 13
  • American Samoa: 6

How the US chooses its presidential candidates (07:43)

11:46 GMT – Polls open in most East Coast Super Tuesday states

Polls have opened in a number of East Coast states, including Virginia, North Carolina and Maine. Some polling locations have also opened in Vermont and Massachusetts.

11:45 GMT – What’s is the delegate count so far?

Of the remaining candidates, here’s a look at how many delegates each candidate has heading into Super Tuesday:

  • Bernie Sanders – 60
  • Joe Biden – 54
  • Elizabeth Warren – 8
  • Michael Bloomberg – 0
  • Tulsi Gabbard – 0

*A candidate needs 1,991 to win

11:40 GMT – Who are the candidates?

Last year Democrats saw a diverse field of more than 25 candidates. Today there are only five.

  • Joe Biden: The 77-year-old served as vice president under former President Barack Obama. Before that he served nearly four decades in Congress. He got a boost on Saturday in a major victory in South Carolina. Read more about Biden here.
  • Michael Bloomberg: The 78-year-old is the former mayor of New York City (2002-2013). The billionaire enter the race late and the Super Tuesday contests are the first he is competing in. Read more about Bloomberg here.
  • Tulsi Gabbard: Many are surprised that the 38-year-old US representative from Hawaii is still in the race. She’s been polling at just over 1 percent. Read more about her here.
  • Bernie Sanders: The 78-year-old senator from Vermont says he’s mounting a grassroots effort to beat Trump. The self-described Democratic socialist remains a frontrunner after winning New Hampshire and Nevada, as well as the popular vote in Iowa. Read more about Sanders here.
  • Elizabeth Warren: The 70-year-old senator from Massachusetts is looking to regain the momentum she had last year, but poor performances in the early voting contests may prove too difficult to overcome. Read more about Warren here.
Source: Al Jazeera