Hillary Clinton 'secures Democratic nomination'

                           

Hillary Clinton has clinched the Democratic nomination for US president after reaching the required number of delegates, an AP tally suggests.

The count puts Mrs Clinton on 2,383 - the number needed to make her the presumptive nominee.

She will become the first female nominee for a major US political party.

But rival Bernie Sanders said Mrs Clinton had not won as she was dependent on superdelegates who could not vote until July's party convention.

Mrs Clinton reached the threshold with a big win in Puerto Rico and a burst of last-minute support from superdelegates, AP said late on Monday night.

Superdelegates are party insiders who can pledge their support for a candidate ahead of the convention but do not formally vote for them until the convention itself.

AP's announcement came ahead of Democratic primaries on Tuesday in California, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, and New Jersey. Polling stations opened at 06:00 local time (10:00 GMT) in New Jersey. The last ones to close will be in California at 03:00 GMT Wednesday.

BBC North America editor Jon Sopel says the AP announcement could actually be a problem for Mrs Clinton, as it may depress turnout in Tuesday's primaries and creates the impression that she has only won because of the superdelegates and not the ordinary voters.

Mr Sanders has vowed to stay in the race until the convention, and his campaign team said the Vermont senator would attempt to win back superdelegates.

His spokesman Michael Briggs said it was too early to call the contest.

"It is unfortunate that the media, in a rush to judgement, are ignoring the Democratic National Committee's clear statement that it is wrong to count the votes of superdelegates before they actually vote at the convention this summer," he said.

Mrs Clinton, a former secretary of state, New York senator and First Lady, leads Mr Sanders by three million votes, 291 pledged delegates and 523 superdelegates, according to AP's count.

She has won 29 caucuses and primaries to his 21 victories - and an estimated 2.9 million more voters have backed her during the nominating process.

That gives her a significantly greater lead over Mr Sanders than Barack Obama had over her in 2008 - he led by 131 pledged delegates and 105 superdelegates at the point he clinched the nomination.

Source: BBC