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Calculating the Popular Vote, Delegate Tallies

ROBERT SIEGEL, host:

There are a few different ways you might measure who's ahead in this race, and we're going to walk through some of them right now. One way is who's won more states?

MELISSA BLOCK, host:

Well, starting with the first caucus in Iowa two months ago, Barack Obama has won 27 contests. Hillary Clinton has won 17, but that includes Florida and Michigan. Those states, as we just mentioned, that have been stripped of their delegates.

SIEGEL: But here's another way to look at it. If you add up the total numbers of votes cast around the country, Obama leads Clinton by 51 to 49 percent. All told, he's gotten about 582,000 more votes. Those numbers are from the Web site RealClearPolitics.

BLOCK: But if you add in those troublesome states of Florida and Michigan, that lead shifts. Remember, Barack Obama was not on the Michigan ballot. With Florida and Michigan counted, Clinton has about 40,000 more votes than Obama.

Now, as for the delegate count, again according to the Associated Press, Obama leads there too with 1,567 delegates; that's both pledged and superdelegates. Clinton has 1,462. Among pledged delegates alone, Obama has racked up 140 more than Clinton.

And if we figure out a way to calculate momentum, we'll let you know. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

As special correspondent and guest host of NPR's news programs, Melissa Block brings her signature combination of warmth and incisive reporting. Her work over the decades has earned her journalism's highest honors, and has made her one of NPR's most familiar and beloved voices.