The early exit polls show a major win for Clinton in Indiana and a major win for Barack Obama in North Carolina, the split decision that the Clinton camp was hoping to avoid.

The polls show:

Two-thirds of Democratic primary voters in Indiana and nearly as many in North Carolina said the economy is the most important issue facing the nation. That’s more than have said so in 28 previous competitive Democratic primaries with exit polls this year.

Only about one in five in each state said Iraq was the top issue, and even fewer picked health care from a list of three issues.

CROSSOVER VOTING

Indiana’s Democratic primary was open to all voters. About one in five said they were independents and one in 10 identified themselves as Republican. North Carolina’s Democratic primary was open only to voters registered Democratic or unaffiliated; nearly one in five voters in that contest called themselves independents.

DEMOGRAPHICS:

The exit poll estimated blacks made up about a third of voters in the North Carolina Democratic primary, about one in seven in Indiana. More than half of voters in both states were women, which is typical for Democratic primaries. About one in seven voters in Indiana and slightly fewer in North Carolina were under age 30; about a quarter in North Carolina and somewhat fewer in Indiana were over age 65.