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Posted: January 8, 2008 6:46 PM
Record Turnout Expected in 'Huge' New Hampshire Primary
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New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner predicted a record turnout for Tuesday’s primary and as voting day progressed on an unusually spring-like day, his office received calls from many town clerks asking for extra Democratic ballots.

As requested, the extra ballots were sent.

“We planned for this and as of right now it is going on 4:30 pm, we have not heard of any places that have run out,” said Deputy Secretary of State David M. Scanlan, according to the Washington Post. “And we have procedures in placed to deal with it if it does happen.”

Last week, Gardner predicted that 500,000 people would head to the polls Tuesday. That’s around 60 percent of the state’s registered voters and about 100,000 more than the previous record set in 2000.

“There’s someone for everyone to come out and vote for,” Gardner said on Jan. 4. “This is like a presidential election in November. This is huge.”

New Hampshire holds an open primary, allowing the state’s independent voters to cast ballots for either party. On Friday the Secretary of State’s office released registered voter numbers: 373,397 or 45 percent are undeclared; 243,914 or 29 percent are Republican; and 213,373 or 26 percent are Democrats.