Super Tuesday 2024: Live primary election updates

(NEXSTAR) – Voters in 16 states and one territory are headed to the polls on Super Tuesday, an important date on the political calendar that will decide how more than one-third of the total delegates in the Republican and Democratic primaries will be allotted.

While the Democratic and Republican frontrunners for president can get close to securing their respective nominations on Tuesday, neither President Biden nor former President Trump will be able to officially secure the political victory.

For the GOP, 854 delegates will be awarded Tuesday, with 1,420 in play for the Democrats.

The earliest Trump can hit that number is March 12. Trump currently has 244 delegates after additional wins over the weekend in Michigan, Missouri and Idaho. Though former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, the last major candidate on the Republican side, won all 19 delegates in the District of Columbia’s primary, Trump could clinch the nomination by winning about 90% of the remaining delegates at stake from now through March 12.

Republican delegate rules vary by state, but their system generally makes it easier for frontrunners to quickly rack up large numbers of delegates because many states — including Super Tuesday’s biggest prize, California — award all their delegates to candidates who win a majority of the vote. In Texas, which has the second biggest delegate haul, 150 delegates will be assigned based on the Super Tuesday primary results, while state officials say they will assign another 11 at the statewide convention in May. The exact number of delegates available on a date can also change as state parties finalize their plans.

On the Democratic side, President Joe Biden is in a position to pick up a substantial number of delegates. Biden’s magic number currently sits at 1,968, though that could shift slightly depending on how the party decides to handle New Hampshire, which broke party rules by holding its party primary in January. The earliest Biden can hit that figure is March 19. He currently has 206 delegates.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.