South Carolina Primary Election by the Numbers (ContributorNetwork)

The focus of the Republican nominees for president is on South Carolina as all six mainstream candidates try to woo voters in the Palmetto State. NPR states the winner of a contested Republican primary in South Carolina has always won the national nomination for president since the contest was first run in 1980.

Here's a statistical look at South Carolina's primary election by the numbers.

9: Candidates on the official ballot. Herman Cain and Rep. Michele Bachmann are still on the ballot despite dropping out of the race. Aside from the six other mainstream candidates, Gary Johnson is also on the ballot. The candidates are listed alphabetically.

2,722,344: Registered voters in South Carolina as of Jan. 1, according to the South Carolina State Election Commission. The New York Times reported in 2008 that just more than 430,000 people cast votes in the last primary election for president. South Carolina doesn't require a party affiliation when registering to vote. That means anyone who is registered can vote in this year's primary.

4,625,354: People in South Carolina, according to the U.S. Census. Almost three-fourths of the population are 18 years of age or older.

12: Hours polls are open. Voting begins at 7 a.m. and lasts until 7 p.m. on Saturday.

143,224: Votes garnered by Sen. John McCain in South Carolina in 2008. He had the approval of 33.2 percent of Republican voters and won by fewer than 15,000 votes and less than 4 percent. McCain's victory was the smallest in terms of percentage in the history of the South Carolina primary.

46: Counties in South Carolina. By comparison, Iowa has 99 and New Hampshire has 10. There are 2,136 precincts. Greenville County in the northwest part of the state has the most registered voters and voting precincts in South Carolina for one county.

3: Presidential primary contests Mitt Romney will win should he take South Carolina. A new Reuters poll suggests Romney is ahead of his nearest competition by 21 percentage points with less than a week until the primary election. Romney would sweep the first three nominating contests if he is victorious in the Palmetto State.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120115/pl_ac/10838137_south_carolina_primary_election_by_the_numbers

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