High turnout as towns seek extra ballots
Posted: Tuesday, January 08, 2008 1:10 PM by Domenico Montanaro
From NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli
The New Hampshire Secretary of State's office is in the process of locating extra ballots to ship to towns that have expressed concern that supplies are running low. The concern is primarily on the Democratic side, officials say.
"The towns that are calling now are experiencing heavy turnout, and see their piles of ballots starting to drop at a rate faster than they're comfortable with," said Deputy Secretary of State Dave Scanlan. "They're also stating to us that it's the Democratic ballots that have them more concerned than the Republican ballots."
Scanlan said the office is in the process of locating overrun ballots, and will courier them to the towns that say they are running low.
Secretary of State Bill Gardner had predicted a turnout of 500,000, which would be a new record for the state. Scanlan said it's too soon to say if that target will be exceeded. "We're certainly encouraged, and if it goes beyond what the secretary predicted, that's great."
Scanlan said today is the warmest primary day he can remember. "Voters in New Hampshire typically turn out for elections, and the weather doesn't seem to bother them too much," he said. "Having nice weather today only helps."
At the polling location in Londonderry, more than 50 people were waiting outside for the doors to open at 7 am. Robert Saur, moderator pro-tem for the town, said he was expecting 70 percent turnout of the nearly 15,000 registered voters. "We're trying to keep everyone moving through here," he said.
Londonderry leans slightly Republican, with 5,641 registered Republicans and 3,620 registered Democrats. There are 6,105 registered undeclared voters who can vote in either primary. Early this morning, it was the blue, Democratic ballots that appeared to be most common.
