LIVE: The South Carolina Republican primary

South Carolina Republicans headed to the polls Saturday to cast decisive votes that could reshape the Republican presidential primary race.

According to most recent polls, Donald Trump has a significant lead in the state, trailed by Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has hovered around fourth place, with a surging Ohio Gov. John Kasich and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson close behind.

The race in the state has been particularly nasty, with accusations of foul-play flying between multiple campaigns.

The Rubio campaign, for instance, criticized Cruz's campaign for allegedly making robocalls suggesting Rubio may drop out of the race. But the Bush campaign shot back that it was skeptical of the Rubio campaign's claim — and that it had reason to believe the Rubio campaign was spreading rumors about the Bush and Kasich campaigns in the state.

See the GOP candidates campaign in South Carolina:

Polls close at 7 p.m. EST.

Read updates from our South Carolina live blog below.

7:09 p.m. EST — Only a few minutes after the polls closed, Trump appeared to be lowering expectations, noting that some political pundits gave him "no chance" in the Palmetto State.

7:05 p.m. EST — As the polls closed, CBS reported exit polls showed a tight race between Trump and Cruz, with Rubio in third.

Other exit polls showed similar results.

SEE ALSO: Republicans are about to have their next big battle, and everyone is accusing each other of 'dirty tricks'

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