US media are widely reporting that former US President Donald Trump has won the Republican presidential primary in the state of South Carolina.
Trump had been tipped to defeat rival Nikki Haley, who was once governor of the conservative state in the south-east of the USA, for their party's nomination for the presidential election on November 5.
To run for president in the US, a candidate must first win the internal party primaries. The candidates are then officially chosen at party conventions in the summer. The Republican nomination convention takes place in mid-July.
Haley, who is regarded as politically more moderate than Trump, had hoped for a home advantage in South Carolina. The 52-year-old was born there and was the first woman to hold the office of governor in the state from 2011 to 2017.
South Carolina has a population of more than five million and around a quarter of the population is black. The primary in South Carolina was the first vote in a southern US state.
Trump was already almost 30 percentage points ahead of Haley in the polls in South Carolina. In nationwide polls, he leads by an even wider margin.
Haley, the former US ambassador to the United Nations, is now considered to have little chance of ultimately prevailing against Trump. Nevertheless, she has so far refused to concede defeat.
Trump has also won the previous primaries in the states of Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.
Trump supporters have been urging Haley to drop out of the internal party race for some time. Before the vote in South Carolina, however, Haley had once again made it clear that the race was far from over and that she did not want to give up.
Special attention is now being paid to March 5, the so-called Super Tuesday. On this day, Republican primaries will be held simultaneously in 15 states.
Trump's victory in Haley's home state once again underpins his support among the party base.
Despite his legal problems, he has not lost popularity among his supporters. There are four criminal proceedings against him, including for his attempts to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
The victory in South Carolina makes Trump's candidacy for the Republican Party in the presidential election in November more likely. As things stand, everything points to another duel between him and the incumbent President Biden.
The number of delegate votes to be awarded in the party's internal primaries varies depending on the party and state. How the primaries are held differs from state to state.
Democrats and Republicans each follow their own system. In South Carolina, party supporters decided on their favourite in the traditional way at polling stations on Saturday. In a few other states, voting takes place at small party meetings, known as caucuses.