Voters in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania cast their ballots Tuesday in a primary critical to the Democratic presidential nomination race.
The primary will be open to registered Democrats only and Senator Barack Obama of Illinois and Senator Hillary Clinton of New York will be the only candidates on the ballot paper.
With 158 delegates at stake, a Pennsylvania newspaper said the state is "poised to become decisive in the Democratic presidential nomination."
This will be the first time since 1976 that Pennsylvania will play a major role in a presidential nomination.
Public opinion polling from early January 2007 through mid-February 2008 consistently gave Clinton a double digit lead over Barack Obama.
But by the beginning of April, polls of Pennsylvanians showed Obama trailing Clinton by an average of 5 points.
According to two polls taken one day before the primary, Hillary Clinton was leading Barack Obama by 49 percent to 42 percent and 51 percent to 41 percent.
Other polls showed Clinton leading by an average of about 6 points.
Some facts of the primary appear to be favorable to Clinton.
Clinton may be helped by the fact that Pennsylvania conducts "closed" primaries, meaning that only registered Democrats will be allowed to vote.
Obama has benefited from the support of independent voters in previous primaries.
Clinton may also benefit from the fact that Pennsylvania has the second oldest population in the United States, behind only Florida.
A Quinnipiac poll conducted April 18-20 has Clinton leading Obama 54 percent to 40 percent among voters 45 and over.
However, Obama leads Clinton 57 percent to 41 percent among voters under the age of 45.
Obama is expected to do well in Philadelphia, which has a large African-American population, and the suburban counties surrounding Philadelphia, home to many upscale voters that in past primaries have tended to back the Illinois Democrat.
Clinton, on the other hand, is expected to do well in the more blue-collar city of Pittsburgh, located in western Pennsylvania, as well as the largely rural area in the middle of the state.
Pennsylvania will also hold a Republican primary, but Sen. John McCain of Arizona has already won the 1,191 delegates needed to win the GOP presidential nomination, making the Pennsylvania Republican primary a merely "beauty contest."
Source:Xinhua
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