Washington – After Arizona Senator John McCain won the majority of votes in Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont on March 4, he has enough pledged delegates to become the Republican Party's nominee. According to the Green Papers, an organization that tracks the awarding of delegates, he currently has 1,114 delegates, but when the final delegates are tallied from these contests, he should have more than the 1,191 delegates a Republican needs to earn the nomination.

McCain does not become the official party nominee until his party's delegates cast their votes at the Republican National Convention in September.

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, in a distant second place with 247 delegates, withdrew from the race March 4.

The delegates still are being counted in the March 4 Democratic contests, but it is expected that Hillary Clinton will win just a handful of more delegates than Barack Obama. Clinton won the popular vote in primaries held in Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island, while Obama won more votes in Vermont. But because Democrats award their delegates proportionally, neither candidate gained a large advantage by winning the popular votes.

Texas also awards one-third of its delegates based on results in caucuses, but the votes still are being counted. As of March 6, Obama maintains about a 100-delegate lead.

THE NOMINATION PROCESS

To become a party's nominee for president, a candidate must win the support of a majority of delegates to the party’s national convention in the summer of 2008. For whom those delegates will cast their votes is determined by the outcomes of state caucuses and primaries. Convention delegates are divided among states proportionally.

Delegates are "pledged" (or committed) to candidates based on the votes the candidate receives in a state's primary or caucus. Each party in each state has its own guidelines for awarding delegates. Some states divide their delegates proportionately while others have a winner-take-all system. Some states' party leaders also select a few "unpledged" delegates, and these delegates can vote for any candidate. A candidate must received a majority of convention votes to secure the party’s nomination. If multiple rounds of voting at the convention are required to select a candidate -- something that has not occurred in recent election cycles -- most states allow delegates to change their votes after the first round of voting.

Democrats are slated to select 4,049 delegates, so a candidate would need to receive a majority of 2,025 votes to win the nomination. However, 796 of those delegates are party leaders, the so-called superdelegates, who are not pledged to a candidate.

The Democratic Party has said it does not plan to count Michigan's 128 pledged delegates or Florida's 185 pledged delegates at its convention because those states violated party rules by holding their primaries prior to February 5. As a result of the party’s ruling, Democratic candidates did not campaign in those states.

Republicans will elect at least 2,380 delegates, although it is possible the number could be higher if the party revokes its punishment of Wyoming, New Hampshire, Michigan, Florida and South Carolina for scheduling their primaries before February 5. Currently, these states stand to lose half their delegations. As of January 2008, a Republican candidate would need 1,191 delegates to win the nomination.

For the latest information on the recent races, see the Guide to the 2008 Elections.