The struggle between Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama to become the Democratic candidate for president placed unusual emphasis on the Indiana Democratic primary for the first time in recent years.
The primary, held May 6, saw voter turnout described by Gary mayor Rudy Clay as comparable to that of a general election.
Although Clinton won 83 of Indiana's 92 counties, according to data from CNN's Election Center, Obama carried seven of the state's 10 most populous counties.
Katrina Bieker, a senior at Ball State University, said she returned home to Lake County for the primary, where she voted for Obama.
"I was surprised that although Clinton took so many counties, the race was still really close," she said.
Bieker said the voting process was not difficult, although it was her first time.
"This was my first time voting, and it was really easy," she said. "I don't know what precinct I live in, but I voted in a bar called 'I Don't Know'."
Most polling places in the state closed their doors at 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, yet media outlets such as CNN and the New York Times Web site did not begin to report results from Lake County until after midnight.
In an interview on CNN, Mayor Clay blamed the more than 11,000 absentee ballots cast in Lake County for the delay, each of which must be counted by hand.
Although early data from Lake County gave Obama 75 percent of the vote, Clinton eventually took the county.
Clinton won Indiana by less than 15,000 votes, according to the New York Times.
Junior Tyler Thompson said he supported Clinton but acknowledged that Obama would become the Democratic nominee.
"It astounds me how a country so united in its distaste for a war and desire for change can support a candidate like McCain in such large numbers," Thompson said. "I do believe that once the Democrats choose a ticket, they will unite and attack McCain's policies and show the American people do not identify with him."
In 2004, the Democratic Party named Massachusetts Senator John Kerry its presidential nominee on March 11, nearly five months before the Democratic National Convention.
Similarly, in the 2000 Democratic primaries, Vice President Al Gore carried all 50 states, becoming the party's presumptive nominee early in the contest.
This year's Democratic candidate is not expected to be announced until June.
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