Participation is open to all registered voter who wish to participate as Democrats and have not participated in the 2012 Presidential nominating process of any other political party.

Saturday 28 January 2012: 56 of 62 delegates to the Democratic National Convention are pledged to presidential contenders based on the results of the voting in today's South Carolina Presidential Primary (see note above). A mandatory 15 percent threshold is required in order for a presidential contender to be allocated National Convention delegates at either the congressional district or statewide level.

• 37 district delegates are to be allocated proportionally to presidential contenders based on the primary results in each of the State's 6 congressional districts (Congressional Districts in effect as of 1 January 2011 will be used to apportion district level delegates). (numbers are from 26 September 2011)
• CD 1: 5
• CD 2: 7
• CD 3: 4
• CD 4: 5
• CD 5: 7
• CD 6: 9
• In addition, 19 delegates are to be allocated to presidential contenders based on the primary vote statewide.
  • 12 at-large National Convention delegates
  • 7 Pledged PLEOs

The 1st step in South Carolina delegate selection process is the Presidential Primary/Precinct Reorganization meeting at 10:00 am on 28 January 2012 or at 10:00 am on 3 March depending on the date set by each county Chairman. There will be no actual primary since only President Barack Obama has filed with the South Carolina Democratic Party to run in a primary. All delegates will be Obama delegates since there are no other Democratic candidates for the office of President of the United States. The precinct reorganization will be considered as the first step in the delegate selection process. Democrats at the precinct meetings elect delegates to County Democratic Conventions.

Saturday 3 March 2012: Precinct Reorganization Meeting (see above).

Thursday 15 March - Tuesday 27 March 2012: County Democratic Conventions. The County Conventions elect delegates to the State Democratic Convention.

Saturday 12 May 2012: State Convention.

National Convention delegates are elected according to the results of the primary.

The remaining 6 National Convention delegates consist of

• 6 Unpledged PLEO delegates:
• 5 Democratic National Committee members.
• 1 Member of Congress (0 Senators and 1 Representative).
• 0 Governors.
• 0 Distinguished Party Leaders.

These 6 delegates and will go to the Democratic National Convention officially "Unpledged".