(South Carolina-AP) Feb. 3, 2004 - A poll released the day of South Carolina's Democratic presidential primary shows the top two contenders in the state are gaining more ground on their opponents.

The seven candidates still in hoping to become the Democratic nominee for president are all hoping for a boost in the seven primaries held Tuesday. Some 269 pledged delegates are up for grabs.

Polls released Tuesday morning by Zogby/MSNBC/Reuters indicate North Carolina Senator John Edwards leads voters in South Carolina with 32 percent of respondents saying they would vote for him, ahead of Massachusetts Senator John Kerry's 29 percent. The third highest percentage went to "undecided" with 11 percent.

Edwards and Kerry were trailed by Vermont Governor Howard Dean at eight percent, retired general Wesley Clark with seven percent and former the Reverend Al Sharpton at seven percent.

Farther back, according to the poll, are Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman at five percent and Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich at 0.1 percent. The margin for error is +/-4.1 percent.

The MSNBC/Reuters Zogby Poll was conducted January 30th through February 1st. The margin of error is +/- 4.1 percentage points.

A poll released Monday showed Edwards with 30 percent and Kerry with 25 percent. Last week they had 24 percent and 23 percent, respectively.

In the same poll Tuesday, Kerry had the lead in both Arizona with 41 percent (to Clark's 27 percent) and Missouri with 50 percent (to Edwards' 16 percent). Clark leads in Oklahoma with 27 percent, followed by Kerry with 25 and Edwards with 23.

The South Carolina Democratic Party has set up a help line for anyone with questions about Tuesday's primary. Call 1-866-919-2004 to find out more about voting procedures, polling places or any other information. Polls opened at 7:00am.

updated 10:19am by Chris Rees