Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By Terry Lewis

ALBANY — Over the past two weeks, the number of contenders for the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations has steadily dwindled. After Tuesday’s “Super Tuesday” presidential preference primaries, the hopes of the seven remaining candidates will either be bolstered or crushed.

Two Democratic candidates — former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont — remain alive, while five Republicans — Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, John Kasich, and Ben Carson — remain active.

The ballots, however, will include all the declared candidates for each of the parties, regardless of whether their campaigns are inactive. As a result, the GOP ballot will include the choices of Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Carly Fiorina, Lindsey Graham, Mike Huckabee, George Pataki, Rand Paul and Rick Santorum, while the Democratic ballot will also have the names of Martin O’Malley and Michael Steinberg.

More delegates to United States presidential nominating conventions can be won Tuesday than on any other single day of the nominating process. Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Virginia will hold contests for both Republicans and Democrats. Republicans in Alaska will hold caucuses, as will Democrats in Colorado.

The five Republican candidates are vying for 595 delegates, which is nearly half of the 1,237 delegates needed to win their party’s nomination. The two remaining Democrats are after 865 delegates, roughly one-third of the 2,383 needed to win. According to the website politico.com, the largest pool of delegates are in Texas — with 155 up for grabs for Republicans and 252 for Democrats.

Heading into Tuesday’s voting, Clinton holds a 544-85 delegate lead over Sanders. On the Republican side, Trump has 82 delegates committed; Cruz, 17; Rubio, 16; Kasich, six, and Carson, four.

In Dougherty County, election officials said 2,177 voters, 2.27 percent of eligible voters, had cast early ballots by Friday’s deadline. By comparison, in 2012 1,236 (1.62 percent) voted early.

According to Secretary of State Brian Kemp’s office, a total of 417,491 early ballots — 391,090 in-person and 26,401 by mail-in absentee — were cast in Georgia ahead of Tuesday’s presidential preference primaries. The early turnout shattered the previous record of 271,418 early votes, which was set in 2008.

The number of Republican ballots cast was 260,443 — 242,609 in-person and 17,834 by mail-in absentee. The number of Democratic ballots cast was 156,663 — 148,142 in-person and 8,521 by mail-in absentee. Kemp spokesman Robert Hydrick said there were 260,433 Republican and 156,663 Democratic ballots cast.

He added that 290,000 early votes were cast in the five days of early voting last week — nearly 19,000 more than for the full period in 2008.