- Michigan is the biggest prize out of half a dozen states voting on March 10, with 125 delegates up for grabs.
- Winning in Michigan would give Sen. Bernie Sanders a major boost after underwhelming results on Super Tuesday.
- For Biden, winning there could mean being a massive step closer to clinching the Democratic presidential nomination after a hugely successful Super Tuesday.
- Most polls in Michigan closed at 8 pm EST (in four Michigan counties that are in the Central Time Zone, polls will close at 9 pm EST).
- You can follow along with the nationwide results here.
- We'll have up-to-the-minute live vote counts and results happening in real time updating automatically.
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Most polls in Michigan closed at 8 pm EST (in four Michigan counties that are in the Central Time Zone, polls will close at 9 pm EST).
Michigan Democratic primary results:
Catch up on live coverage from the primary:
Michigan is expecting delays in the reporting of results this year due to a backlog of absentee ballots. This is linked to recent changes in voting laws, giving all voters in the state the options to vote by mail as well as same-day registration.
Michiganders have apparently taken advantage of these changes, with a 97% increase in absentee ballot requests in 2020 from 2016, per the Detroit Free Press. 993,814 people requested absentee ballots, and 804,216 have already been returned.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has warned that final results may not be available until Wednesday.
"In terms of having all jurisdictions fully done and reported, I think we're looking at early afternoon Wednesday at this point," Jake Rollow, a spokesperson for Benson, said on a call with reporters, per MLive. "It would be great if it gets done before that. Given the workload that we see on people's plates, we know that they're doing their best to try and take all this on."
With 125 pledged delegates at stake, Michigan is the biggest prize out of half a dozen voting contests on Tuesday, March 10, in which 352 pledged delegates are on the table.
Pre-primary:
- POLL: Biden shattered Bernie's momentum, with skeptical Democrats increasingly satisfied with Biden as nominee
- The Michigan primary is Bernie Sanders' last chance to show he has a shot at becoming president
- Here's who Joe Biden is reportedly considering for top positions in his administration as he touts a 'Return to Normal' plan
- Candidates who've dropped out of the presidential race are endorsing either Biden or Sanders. Here's whose side they're on and why.
Here's how Democrats will elect their presidential nominee over the next several months
What's at stake in the primary?
Michigan could be do-or-die for Sen. Bernie Sanders after an underwhelming Super Tuesday that saw him fall behind former Vice President Joe Biden in delegates.
Sanders won a stunning, narrow victory in Michigan in 2016 over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. It was a defining moment for his campaign, and it's poised to play a similar role in 2020.
Michigan has 125 pledged delegates on the table — 35% of the 352 delegates at stake in six voting contests on Tuesday.
If former Vice President Joe Biden comes out on top, it would expand his lead over Sanders and bring him a major step closer to clinching the nomination.
Winning in Michigan, a Midwestern state with a large blue-collar population, would give either candidate a lot of momentum heading into a series of crucial voting contests on March 17 when 577 delegates will be up for grabs. The March 17 primaries include Illinois and Ohio, two nearby states.
A candidate needs to win 1,991 delegates to win the Democratic Party's nomination for president. Biden leads the pack with 612. Sanders has 536.
As in most other states, candidates must earn over the minimum threshold of 15% of the vote in a given district or statewide to earn any delegates.
Who does the polling say is ahead?
According to FiveThirtyEight's average of the latest polling data, Biden has a considerable lead over Sanders in Michigan: 53.6% to 32.3%. Gabbard is polling at 1.1%. He's a prohibitive favorite to win the state.
According to FiveThirtyEight's primary election forecast, Biden has a 49 in 50 chance (98%) of winning the Democratic nomination, while Sanders has a 1 in 50 (2%) chance and Gabbard has a 0% chance.
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