(CNN) — Barack Obama will become the first major party presidential nominee to refuse general election public financing in the program’s history, since it first went into effect in the 1976 presidential election as part of a package of post-Watergate campaign finance reforms

Candidates who participate in the program receive a grant from the federal government (approximately $85 million per major party nominee) from which the candidate’s entire general election campaign must be financed. Participating candidates may not raise or spend money outside of this public funding grant.

In February 2007, Obama asked the Federal Election Commission whether federal rules allowed presidential candidates to begin raising money for the general election and then later return that money should the candidate decide later to participate in the general election public financing program. The FEC ruled unanimously in March 2007 that presidential candidates could essentially change their minds and accept general election public financing — provided that they return any money raised for the general election while following certain guidelines. Obama’s actions were seen as a desire on his part to preserve the public financing option, while still enabling him to protectively raise general election money.

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NEW YORK (CNN) – After a rush of superdelegate endorsements Tuesday, Barack Obama is currently a dozen delegates away from the 2,118 required to claim the Democratic nomination. The Illinois senator has 2,106 delegates in the latest CNN count.

Obama now leads Clinton by 193 delegates in overall delegates, 125 in pledged delegates, and 68 in superdelegates. Clinton is 205 delegates short of clinching the nomination.

There are 31 pledged delegates up for grabs in the remaining two contests (Montana and South Dakota on Tuesday night). There are 179 superdelegates remaining.

Constantly updated delegate totals are available at the CNN.com Election Center.

DEMOCRATIC DELEGATE ESTIMATE as of 6/3/2008, 6 p.m.
Obama: 2,106 (Pledged: 1749, Superdelegates: 357)
Clinton: 1,913 (Pledged: 1624, Superdelegates: 289)
Edwards: 5 (Pledged: 5, Superdelegates: 0)

Superdelegates remaining: 179
Pledged delegates remaining: 31

(CNN) — The CNN Delegate Estimate has been updated with complete results from the Kentucky primary and partial results from the Oregon primary. There are also a few additional superdelegate updates.

In Kentucky, Clinton won 37 pledged delegates while Obama won 14. In Oregon, Obama has won at least 29 pledged delegates while Clinton won at least 19. There are 4 pledged delegates in Oregon still to be allocated. Overall, Clinton narrowed the pledged delegate gap with Obama as a result of Tuesday’s primaries. Clinton won at least 56 delegates from Kentucky and Oregon combined, compared to at least 43 for Obama, with 4 Oregon delegates still to be allocated.

In superdelegate news, Clinton picked up two new superdelegate endorsements (one from yesterday just before the primaries and another from today). Obama picked up a superdelegate endorsement today from Rep. Joe Courtney of Connecticut.

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(CNN) — If Hillary Clinton ends up winning more than 70.05 percent of the vote in West Virginia tonight, she will have her best showing of the campaign to date.

Clinton's biggest victory so far this campaign came in the Arkansas primary on Super Tuesday, February 5, when she beat Barack Obama 70.05 percent to 26.25 percent — the Illinois senator's poorest showing to date.

The Arkansas primary marked the only contest so far where Clinton reached the 70 percent vote threshold. So far Obama has reached or exceeded 70 percent in five contests: the DC primary (75 percent), and the caucuses in Alaska (75 percent), Hawaii (76 percent), Idaho (79 percent), and Kansas (74 percent).

Clinton's second best showing was in the Rhode Island primary on March 4, when she captured 58 percent of the vote.

(CNN) — Barack Obama has won the Guam Democratic caucuses by a margin of 7 votes.

With all of Guam’s precincts reporting, Obama won 2,264 votes (50.1 percent) to 2,257 votes (49.9 percent) for Hillary Clinton, his sole remaining rival for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Obama led the vote count throughout the day and had a 52.7 percent to 47.3 percent advantage over Clinton by late afternoon. Clinton then won the sole remaining precinct — Guam’s largest village of Dededo — by a 61.9 percent to 38.1 percent margin, which brought her to within 7 votes of Obama in the overall tally.

Polls closed at 6 a.m. eastern time Saturday, but vote counting on the U.S. territory took over 13 hours to finalize.

Obama and Clinton will split the U.S. territory's four pledged delegate votes evenly, with two apiece.

The win gives Obama his 31st victory of the campaign, including his win in the Texas caucuses in March. Clinton has won 16 contests, including the Texas primary.

The battle for the Democratic nomination next heads to Indiana and North Carolina, which both will hold primaries on Tuesday.

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(CNN) — Barack Obama has won the Guam Democratic caucuses by a margin of 7 votes. Obama and Hillary Clinton will split the U.S. territory's four pledged delegate votes evenly, with two apiece.

More to come.

(CNN) – The outcome of the Guam Democratic presidential caucuses will come down to the votes of one village, Dededo, the territory's largest voting precinct.

With 20 of 21 precincts reporting, Barack Obama leads the contest with 1,951 votes (52.7 percent), compared to 1,748 votes (47.2 percent) for Hillary Clinton.

Roughly 1,400 votes remain to be tallied in Dededo, about 27 percent of all votes cast in this party-run primary.

At stake are Guam's four pledged delegate votes, which will be allocated to the candidates in proportion to the percentage of the vote won once all the votes are counted.

(CNN) — With 86 percent of precincts reporting, Barack Obama leads the vote count from the Guam Democratic presidential caucuses with 1,720 votes (53.3 percent). Hillary Clinton has 1,509 votes (46.7 percent).

Roughly 1,400 ballots from Guam’s largest village, Dededo, have not yet been counted. An estimated 500 votes remain to be counted in two remaining villages: Agat and Yona.

The presidential candidates are battling for Guam's four pledged delegate votes. A total of eight delegates will be elected, each with half a vote at the Democratic National Convention in Denver this summer.

(CNN) — With 15 out of 19 villages reporting, Obama leads the vote count from the Guam Democratic presidential caucuses with 1,393 votes (53.3 percent). Hillary Clinton has 1,222 votes (46.7 percent).

An estimated 1,400 ballots from Guam’s largest village, Dededo, have not yet been counted.

The presidential candidates are battling for Guam's four pledged delegate votes. A total of eight delegates will be elected, each with half a vote at the Democratic National Convention in Denver this summer.

Barack Obama leads Hillary Clinton in Guam.

(CNN) — Barack Obama leads Hillary Clinton in Guam's Democratic presidential caucuses with votes from the largest of the island's 19 villages still to be counted, according to a Guam election official.

With 12 out of 19 villages reporting, Obama has 899 votes (53.9 percent) compared to 769 votes (46.1 percent) for Clinton.

The presidential candidates are battling for Guam's four pledged delegate votes. A total of eight delegates will be elected, each with half a vote at the Democratic National Convention in Denver this summer.

Also on the ballot Saturday was the race for chairman and vice chairman of the U.S. territory's Democratic party. The winners of that race will serve as superdelegates. According to the election official, the slate of Pilar Lujan and Jaime Paulino currently leads the slate of Joseph Artero Cameron and Arlen Bordallo. Lujan remains uncommitted in the race for president while running-mate Paulino has endorsed Obama. Both Cameron and Bordallo have endorsed Clinton. Incumbent chairman Tony Charfauros and running-mate Mary Ann Cabrera are currently in third place. Neither has endorsed a presidential candidate.

Although called “caucuses,” Saturday’s event in Guam functions more like a party-run primary. Voters cast secret ballots in polling places, as opposed to publicly aligning themselves in presidential candidate preference groups which occurs in more traditional caucuses, such as in Iowa and Nevada.

Polls closed in Guam at 6am eastern time, and vote-counting is expected to continue well into the afternoon. Guam is 14 hours ahead of eastern time.

(CNN) — Barack Obama continues to lead Hillary Clinton in Guam's Democratic caucuses as local party officials work into the early morning tallying votes from Saturday's event.

With 7 out of 19 villages reporting, Obama leads with 497 votes (55.3 percent) to 401 votes for Clinton (44.7 percent).

Guam caucus officials merged some village returns together, reducing the total number of villages from 21 to 19.

(CNN) — Early vote returns from Saturday's Guam Democratic caucuses show Barack Obama with a small but early lead over presidential rival Hillary Clinton, although the bulk of the votes in the U.S. territory have yet to be counted.

With 2 out of 21 villages reporting, Obama won 188 votes to 105 for Clinton. Guam Democratic Party officials told CNN Saturday morning that the vote tabulation is ongoing but will take several more hours to complete.

Polls closed in Guam at 8 p.m. local time, or 6 a.m. eastern time. Four delegate votes are at stake in this event.