Donald Trump has won the North Dakota Republican presidential caucuses, adding to his string of victories heading into Super Tuesday.
The former president finished first in voting conducted at 12 caucus sites, ahead of former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley. The result puts Trump back on the winning track, which was briefly interrupted on Sunday when Haley notched her first victory of the campaign in the District of Columbia’s primary.
The White House hopefuls now turn their attention to Super Tuesday, when results will pour in from 16 states in contests that amount to the single biggest delegate haul of any day in the presidential primary. Trump and President Joe Biden, a Democrat, are dominating their races and are on track to winning their nominations later this month.
Under North Dakota’s rules, candidates are eligible to win delegates if they finish with at least 20 per cent of the vote. However, a candidate who wins at least 60 per cent of the vote receives all of the state’s 29 delegates.
Four candidates were on the ballot, including Trump and Nikki Haley. The other candidates, who have received little attention, were Florida businessman David Stuckenberg and Texas businessman and pastor Ryan Binkley, who recently ended his campaign.
North Dakota is the only state without voter registration. The caucuses followed official state voter identification protocols, such as providing a driver’s licence. Voting was done only in person and on printed ballots, which will be hand-counted.
North Dakota’s Democratic-NPL Party is holding a presidential primary almost entirely by mail, with mail-in voting from February 20 to March 30, and limited in-person voting for residents of Indian reservations.
A third party will count ballots in Fargo on March 30, with results available on the party’s website afterward.
Senator Bernie Sanders won the Democratic caucuses in 2016 and 2020.
Source Agencies
