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May 6, 2008 6:34 pm US/Central
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Huge Number Of Hoosiers Turn Out For Primary
Poll Shows Clinton Favored In Indiana; Obama Projected Winner In North Carolina
HAMMOND, Ind. (CBS) ―
Workers at Lake County, Ind., election headquarters say they've seen a lot of first-time voters with questions and people who haven't voted in so long their voter registration was canceled. It shows Indiana voters clearly believe individual votes will make a difference.
CBS 2 Northwest Indiana Bureau Chief Pamela Jones reports in Gary, some voters waited an hour or more to cast their vote.
"Since I've been voting in this particular precinct, I've never seen lines at 6 o'clock that's been wrapped around the building practically," said precinct committeeman Russell Cundiff.
Voters CBS 2 talked to didn't show up undecided – they'd reviewed their choices ahead of time.
"It is very clear who I came out here to vote for. Obama, all the way," said Channae Watkins.
"I'll tell you. I voted for Barack Obama," said Kenneth D'Amico.
In East Chicago and all over Lake County, voters formed long lines.
Clinton supporters wanted to make sure their decision counted.
"Both of them, they've got the same platform, but Hillary's got the experience. That's what counts," said Jose Ramirez.
In Hammond, Clinton backers wore their support upfront, but many heading into the polls kept their preference to themselves.
"It's a, what do they say, a once in a lifetime thing. First woman president or first black president, so either way… it's history," said voter Jackie Marcinec.
Peaches Lemalle waited 40 minutes in line, along with her 19-year-old son who was voting for the first time.
"I told him we're going to make history and we're going to be here at 6:30, and we were here," Lemalle said.
Also voting for the very first time was Mohamed Illyas, a new citizen from Sri Lanka.
"I just got my citizenship last year, and this is my first presidential election," Illyas said, "and either way, it's going to be history."
At Lake County election headquarters they took questions and handled concerns for some 283,000 registered voters there.
The vote counters lined up to start with absentee ballots. High voter turnout promises to make for a long night.
"The little things that we hear informally, it seems like it's a really high turnout because they do take counts off the machines and we don't get them formally, but I've talked to people and they're saying things like the turnout at 11 o'clock this morning set records in a lot of areas," said Election Board attorney David Saks.
And now the counting begins. Runners will start hauling machine cartridges from some 561 precincts. They'll have to tally those plus 7,000 to 8,000 absentee ballots.
As CBS 2's Joanie Lum reports, as of Tuesday morning Obama had captured 1,745 delegates, while Clinton had 1,603. To clinch, 2,025 are needed.
North Carolina, which also has its primary Tuesday, has 115 delegates, while Indiana will award 72.
Campaigning continued even after polls opened Tuesday. In East Chicago, Ind., Chelsea Clinton was planning to greet voters at El Ranchero Restaurant, 3809 Main St., where she planned to meet the Castro family, who have owned the restaurant for 16 years. They claim to be politically neutral.
Obama's campaign was also still out in force. Voters caught in the construction zone along Indianapolis Boulevard in Hammond could not forget about election day, as campaign workers held signs and shouted through bullhorns in support of their candidates.
Election officials said they have not seen a candidate for president in person since Robert F. Kennedy came to Hammond in 1968. The Obamas and Clintons have been to the state a couple dozen times each.
Obama was still there on Tuesday morning. He began the day with a campaign stop at the Four Seasons Family Restaurant in the Indianapolis suburb of Greenwood, where he shook hands and had eggs.
A man eating with three friends held up their breakfast check and told Obama, "Take this, we'll seal the deal."
Even though the man said he was joking, Obama quickly snatched the bill totaling about $25.
But did the Illinois senator win his vote? Well, not exactly. The man is Canadian.
Meanwhile, Clinton visited the Indianapolis Motor Speedway but wouldn't make a prediction about the outcome of the primary election, or the Indy 500.
She said every race is filed with the unexpected.
Clinton posed for pictures with driver Sarah Fisher and her race crew. Fisher has endorsed Clinton, and the two chatted and laughed as they walked into the driver's garage. Fisher said she voted for Clinton this morning, and she gave her a race helmet.
Polls closed at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
CBS 2's Joanie Lum, Northwest Indiana Bureau Chief Pamela Jones, Political Editor Mike Flannery and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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