by Julia Pierrepont III
LOS ANGELES, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Lines of voters, divided in opinions, stretched outside the polls at California's Democratic primary on Tuesday, waiting to cast a vote which they think will make an important difference.
"I think it's 'Vote Blue No Matter Who' time," an African American voter who asked only to be identified as "Melissa B.," like many other interviewees who were unwilling to give their full names, told Xinhua.
Having moved its primary up to Super Tuesday, California joined 13 other states nationwide that were holding primaries on the same day, in the hope that the results would shape the general picture of the presidential race.
With 20.7 million registered voters, the Golden State has the largest electorate among all states in the country, with its 415 delegates -- less than a quarter of the 1,991 needed to win the Democratic nomination -- being critical in determining the final Democratic presidential candidate.
The contest was quite intense, though the most recent poll by the Los Angeles Times and the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley predicted Senator Bernie Sanders would win the state by a 2-to-1 margin over his rivals.
Many local voters polled by Xinhua prior to voting said they were still undecided about who they should vote for of the many candidates, including Sanders, former Vice President Joe Biden, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Senator Elizabeth Warren.
"It's so hard to make a decision this time around," Sarah H. said. "Each candidate has some really good ideas and some not-so-good ones."
While the Republican Party traditionally favors the privileged wealthy and white, the Democratic Party welcomes members from all walks of life, economic strata, races, genders and sexual orientations.
This has often led to a divergence of opinion on policy issues among the Democratic party membership comprised of left-leaning progressives, centrists and fiscal-conservatives.
"Every group has an agenda and there's no way they are always going to line up," said Mary from Sunland, California. "Everyone seems to want a different candidate."
"I like Bernie," Asian American voter Sean W. told Xinhua. "He cares about the stuff I care about, like free college education and universal healthcare."
He added, "Healthcare costs are out of control in this country and if other countries can give their citizens universal healthcare and not break the bank, why can't America? Are we less competent or just more unfair? "
For Barbara T., Warren was her choice. "It's about time we had a woman president. (Warren) really cares about the American people and won't make the same mistakes that men make when their egos run over their common sense."
But by far the most important standard that all voters seemed to agree on when casting their ballots was which candidate can beat President Donald Trump.
"Bloomberg's the guy. He can win and he has the smarts and expertise to put this country back on track," Barney from New York said. "We need a president who is good with money and making international trade deals, like Bloomberg."
Sue W., a female voter of Chinese descent, said, "Biden is experienced and I think he can beat Trump."
Mark T. of Los Angeles, meanwhile, said he believes that race and gender will certainly play its part in the campaign.
It's estimated that among the total 14.5 million voters in November's general election, 53.4 percent will be white, 25.6 percent Latino, 15.4 percent Asian American and 6.5 percent African American, according to a report by the University of California at Los Angeles released last month.
