Voter turnout surged in New Hampshire

A voter fills in his ballot on the basketball court at Capt. Samuel Douglass Academy during the New Hampshire Primary in Brookline, N.H., Tuesday Jan. 8, 2008. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

CONCORD, N.H.—Voters appeared on track to cast a record number of ballots in Tuesday's presidential primaries.

Just before the last polls closed at 8 p.m., Secretary of State William Gardner said there was every indication turnout would set a new record.

"Turnout is high, very high," said Gardner, who last week estimated that a total of 500,000 ballots would be cast in the Democratic and Republican primaries. The previous record of 396,385 ballots was cast in 2000.

Gardner said he hadn't seen complete vote tallies, but noted that 2,300 people had voted by 2 p.m. in Bow. The town's previous record at that hour was 1,600 votes.

He also predicted a record for voters registering at the polls, which has been allowed in New Hampshire for the last three primaries.

While some election officials had to hustle to find or copy blank ballots, no significant delays were reported. Voting officials in several towns briefly ran out of ballots and substituted unused absentee ballots or photocopied ballots.

"We're overwhelmed. We had to use extra paper ballots that we hadn't anticipated," said Salem moderator Charles Morse.

In Waterville Valley, town clerk Pat Kucharski said voter turnout was "exceptionally heavy," particularly for the Democratic primary.

Voting also was strong in Manchester and Nashua, the state's two largest cities.