Democrats hoping to prolong the gaffe-ridden Republican presidential nominating contest and wound frontrunner Mitt Romney turned out in droves Tuesday to vote in Michigan's open primary.
Early exit polls showed that about one in ten voters said they were Democrats while only six in ten identified themselves as Republicans, US media reported.
Many Democrats said they cast ballots for conservative Rick Santorum, who had been polling at a dead-heat with Romney in Michigan but is seen as a weaker candidate against President Barack Obama.
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"It's one way to get a vote for the person you want to win," said Elisabeth Steegman, 44, of Sterling Heights, who voted for Santorum to help Obama.
"It's a little stinky," she admitted, "but worth it."
Romney won in the end but his slim victory margin in the state he was born in -- he led rival Rick Santorum by 41 precent to 38 precent in the latter stages of the count -- will do little to dispel lingering doubts about his bid to oust Obama.
Had he suffered an embarrassing loss in the state where his father was governor it could have seriously undone his campaign a week before pivotal Super Tuesday, when 10 states head to the polls.
A Santorum victory would have constituted a major upset and cemented his position as a genuine alternative, proving that his shock sweep of wins in Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri on February 7 was no fluke.
Which is perhaps why Santorum's campaign went as far as launching "robo" calls, automated telephone pleas, urging Democrats to vote for him.
Romney lashed out at Santorum's "dirty tricks" as the act of a "desperate campaign" as he tried to temper expectations.
Romney's team has also slammed Obama's "pathetic" attempt to change the outcome of the race by not only attacking Romney's conservative credentials but urging Democrats to "kill Romney" with a vote for Santorum.
"I think Republicans have to recognize there's a real effort to kidnap our primary process," Romney told reporters.
Brad O'Donnell, 22, of Lansing, said Republicans only have themselves to blame.
"The Michigan Republican Party made a big mistake by basically inviting Democrats to vote in their primary," said O'Donnell, a firm Obama supporter who cast a ballot for Santorum Tuesday.
"Voting for Santorum was a no-brainer. The longer the primary goes on, the more time there will be to find some more skeletons on Mitt Romney."
Retired autoworker Dennis Budziszewski, 63, of Canton, urged friends and relatives to vote for Santorum in order to embarrass Romney, whom he reviles for opposing the bailout of General Motors and Chrysler.
"I've been pushing this on Facebook for days," the diehard Democrat told AFP. "There's a very real possibility we can pull this off."
Romney currently leads in pledged delegates after having won the more important states so far. He also has the best-funded and most organized campaign, which will certainly help in what could be a long slog to the Republican National Convention in August.
All four remaining candidates -- including former House speaker Newt Gingrich and congressman Ron Paul of Texas -- have vowed to stay in the race until the convention, where a result might have to be brokered behind the scenes if no one reaches the magic number of 1,144 delegates.
Michigan awards half its 42 delegates to the state-wide winner and the other half based on the winner of congressional districts.
