Mississippi voters head to the polls Tuesday to cast ballots for delegates to the Democratic and Republican national conventions.

In Warren County, all 22 precincts will be staffed by representatives of both parties conducting the primaries.

Early voting in Warren County wrapped up at noon Saturday. A final tally won’t be available until Monday, said Circuit Clerk Shelly Ashley Palmertree, but, as of midweek, about 200 absentee ballots had been cast.

Voter registration stands at 35,746 heading into the primaries. For last year’s state election cycle, turnout was 36 percent as local rolls stood at 35,456.

Heading into Tuesday, though Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., leads in the overall delegate count on the Democratic side, victories last Tuesday for Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., in delegate-rich Ohio and Texas maintained a pitched battle for momentum evident on the local level.

Obama is to appear at a rally Monday on the campus of Jackson State University at the Lee E. Williams Athletic Center. Clinton’s campaign today wrapped up a four-day swing through Mississippi with appearances in the Jackson area by daughter Chelsea Clinton.

On Saturday, the Obama camp announced the opening of its Vicksburg campaign headquarters, one of seven across the state, on Washington St.

“It’s going to be a tight one,” Warren County Democratic Executive Committee chairman Mary Katherine Brown said. “It’s exciting for a change in Mississippi.”

Voters will allocate 33 of Mississippi’s 40 delegates in the night’s only primary. Seven superdelegates in the state include elected officials, party officers and others.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., wrapped up the Republican nomination this week with victories in four states that voted Tuesday. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and others who have suspended their campaigns will appear on each party’s ballots.

Democrats will hold their nominating convention Aug. 25-28 in Denver. Republicans will convene Sept. 1-4 in Denver.

Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., is running for a sixth term representing Mississippi in the Senate and is unopposed for the Republican nomination. Democrats will decide between former state Rep. Erik Fleming and perennial state and congressional candidate Shawn O’Hara of Hattiesburg for the party’s nomination in the contest.

There will be no primary for the Senate seat vacated by former Sen. Trent Lott, a Republican. A special election on Nov. 4 general election ballots will list Sen. Roger Wicker, the Republican appointed to the post, and Democratic challenger Ronnie Musgrove.

Warren, Sharkey, Issaquena and Claiborne counties are represented in the U.S. House by U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat. The 2nd District incumbent faces Dorothy “Dot” Benford of Jackson in the primary.

The Republican nomination will go to Richard Cook, a Jackson school teacher making his first run for political office, who is unopposed.