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Obama takes Guam from Clinton by seven votes: officials
HAGATNA, Guam (AFP) — Barack Obama beat Hillary Clinton in the Guam caucuses in the Democratic White House battle by a mere seven votes, local party officials said Sunday.
After a marathon all-night counting session, Obama won 14 of the 21 districts in the remote US territory and finished with 2,264 votes to 2,257 for Clinton.
Voter turnout was 25 percent higher than the 4,000 party officials expected on Saturday as the tiny Pacific island grasped its one opportunity to influence the presidential outcome.
The island's residents, while US citizens, cannot vote in November's presidential election.
Party officials said many people had registered as Democrats at the caucus sites around the island, prompting the tag "Democrats for a day."
"There are many new Democrats today," the chairman of the Democratic nominating committee Herbie Perez said.
"I am so surprised. I never thought it would be like this."
The outcome rested on Dededo, the island's most populated community and the final village to be counted, and where Clinton had strong support from the predominantly Filipo-American community.
She trailed Obama by 203 votes before counting began in Dededo where officials said several spoiled ballots were rejected.
Although Guam offers only four delegate votes, each is now crucial to the Democratic White House battle, in which Obama leads Clinton by a narrow margin estimated at 1,742 delegates to 1,599.
Neither Obama nor Clinton visited Guam ahead of the vote but both vowed to address local issues, such as the relocation of 8,000 Marines from Okinawa in Japan and war reparation claims.
Guam, a US territory since 1898, rarely steps into the limelight of US politics as it lies on the other side of the international dateline. The island has about 48,000 registered voters.
HAGATNA, Guam (AFP) — Barack Obama beat Hillary Clinton in the Guam caucuses in the Democratic White House battle by a mere seven votes, local party officials said Sunday.
After a marathon all-night counting session, Obama won 14 of the 21 districts in the remote US territory and finished with 2,264 votes to 2,257 for Clinton.
Voter turnout was 25 percent higher than the 4,000 party officials expected on Saturday as the tiny Pacific island grasped its one opportunity to influence the presidential outcome.
The island's residents, while US citizens, cannot vote in November's presidential election.
Party officials said many people had registered as Democrats at the caucus sites around the island, prompting the tag "Democrats for a day."
"There are many new Democrats today," the chairman of the Democratic nominating committee Herbie Perez said.
"I am so surprised. I never thought it would be like this."
The outcome rested on Dededo, the island's most populated community and the final village to be counted, and where Clinton had strong support from the predominantly Filipo-American community.
She trailed Obama by 203 votes before counting began in Dededo where officials said several spoiled ballots were rejected.
Although Guam offers only four delegate votes, each is now crucial to the Democratic White House battle, in which Obama leads Clinton by a narrow margin estimated at 1,742 delegates to 1,599.
Neither Obama nor Clinton visited Guam ahead of the vote but both vowed to address local issues, such as the relocation of 8,000 Marines from Okinawa in Japan and war reparation claims.
Guam, a US territory since 1898, rarely steps into the limelight of US politics as it lies on the other side of the international dateline. The island has about 48,000 registered voters.
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