Net Results

While the outcomes of the Democratic presidential voting events have so far alternated between victories for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, one statistic has been consistent: Democratic voter turnout has consistently been up over other recent years ... while turnout for Republican primaries and caucuses has been off sharply.

The number of voters in Saturday's South Carolina Democratic primary -- won by Barack Obama, with Hillary Clinton second and South Carolina native John Edwards third -- will greatly exceed the turnout for the state's 2004 primary, won by Edwards with eventual nominee John Kerry second and black activist Al Sharpton a distant third.

With three-quarters of precincts reporting in the Associated Press count, about 380,000 were recorded in the Democratic primary. That compared to the total official vote of 294,000 in 2004.

The Democratic turnout numbers will challenge those in the last Saturday's South Carolina Republican primary, in which about 440,000 cast votes -- down more than 20 percent from the turnout in previous competitive GOP primary in the state, held in 2000.