Harrisburg: Democratic Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has accused rival Senator Barack Obama and his allies of trying to stop people from voting as some of his backers called on her to drop out of the presidential race.

The Obama campaign rejected the charge, dismissing Clinton's criticism as "completely laughable." In a series of television interviews in states holding upcoming contests, Clinton vowed to press on with her campaign and suggested Obama and his supporters wanted to keep those states from playing a role in selecting the party's presidential nominee.

"My take on it is a lot of Senator Obama's supporters want to end this race because they don t want people to keep voting," she told CBS affiliate KTVQ in Billings, Montana. "That's just the opposite of what I believe. We want people to vote. I want the people of Montana to vote, don't you?"

Montana holds its primary June 3. The New York senator made similar comments in interviews with stations in Indiana and North Carolina, which hold primaries May 6.

Obama leads the overall race for the Democratic nomination with 1,631 delegates, including separately chosen party and elected officials known as superdelegates. He got the backing of Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar yesterday. Clinton has 1,501,according to the latest AP tally.

Clinton almost certainly will end the primary season narrowly trailing Obama in the popular vote and among pledged delegates unless the nullified primaries in Florida and Michigan are counted -- an unlikely scenario at best.
Source : PTI