Texas resumes counting caucus votes

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Election officials in Texas have resumed counting votes from Tuesday's caucuses after overwhelming turnout pushed the caucuses later than expected.

Voters sign a delegate sign-up sheet while caucus voting in DeSoto, a suburb of Dallas, Texas.

As polling places closed Tuesday evening, Texans lined up in bigger-than-expected numbers for the caucuses -- in some places lining up in parking lots and overflowing buildings where caucuses were held.

The Texas Democratic Party stopped the count early Wednesday morning when it became clear it would take several hours to complete. They restarted later in the morning.

As of Wednesday evening, Sen. Barack Obama led with about 56 percent of state delegates in the caucuses, compared to about 44 percent for Sen. Hillary Clinton, with about 41 percent of the state reporting.

At last check, with 40% of precincts counted, Obama led Clinton 56% to 44%

Clinton won the state's primary 51 percent to Obama's 48 percent. The state party awards the delegates proportionally statewide -- Clinton earned 65 delegates to Obama's 61.

The caucuses determine how the remaining third of Texas' delegates are allocated.

Clinton also won Tuesday in Ohio and Rhode Island, while Obama won Vermont.

The Texas Democratic Party estimates 1.1 million Texans attended the precinct conventions, doubling the 508,000 who voted in 2006.

And that large number created chaos at many caucus sites throughout the state.

A CNN I-Reporter in Houston, Texas, reported hundreds of people at his polling place -- saying he had to wait for more than an hour just to sign in.

Mark Houston, a registered voter, told CNN affiliate KTRK that "we went on to wait and wait ... it seemed all we were doing was waiting."

At a location in Austin, Texas, about 800 people showed up -- far outstripping expectations.

CNN I-Reporter Bill Seitzler added that "most of the people in the room had no idea what was going to happen ... people were jumping up on tables ... and saying this is how it's going to go."Video Watch Seitzler's report from an Austin, Texas, caucus site »

"It's been extremely confusing. No one seems to be in charge," Patricio Espinoza, another CNN I-Reporter, said. Video Watch Espinoza's report on caucus confusion »

But the scene was much calmer at a Plano, Texas, caucus site.

Russ Sikes, a registered voter in the Dallas, Texas, suburb, said his caucus site, which had around 70 people, "wasn't bad at all" and was "fairly organized."

"It went smoothly ... no big deal and kind of fun ... it wasn't disorganized or slow," he said. "It was amazing how big the turnout was."

A complicated formula in Texas weighs delegates more heavily in highly populated areas.

"It literally makes no sense," said CNN chief political analyst Bill Schneider.

"The voters don't understand it and to some extent they're in control of the caucus process. So I think you're going to get complaints about irregularities."

In what pundits have dubbed the "Texas two-step," the state's Democratic Party hosts both a primary election, in which 126 delegates are awarded, and a post-election caucus in which another 67 are awarded.

It's possible for the loser of the primary to win more delegates with a strong showing in the caucuses. And Texas' method of awarding delegates in the primary -- with more delegates coming from large population centers like Houston, Dallas and Austin -- further complicates the matter.

"Those [districts] that have supported the Democratic ticket [in the presidential election] well in the past tend to get up to as many as eight delegates, those who have not get as few as two," said Texas Monthly's Paul Burka.

"Sen. Clinton tended to carry the rural areas where the Republicans are very strong in the suburbs, so her districts are worth fewer delegates and Obama has won districts that are in urban areas that have been very strong for Democrats, so he gets more delegates."

Clinton supporters were saying a strong performance of any sort would keep her campaign alive. Weeks ago, former President Clinton had predicted his wife would need wins in Texas and Ohio to stay in the race.

Clinton's campaign, meanwhile, says it may challenge the state's caucus results, citing what they call "hundreds of complaints" of mischief caused by the Obama campaign at caucus, The Associated Press reported.

Clinton officials cite evidence that Obama supporters illegally obtained caucus packets in several precincts throughout the state.

Under caucus rules, whomever has the packet is placed in charge of the caucus. They also say Obama supporters locked Clinton voters out of several caucuses, the AP reported.

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