Dem turnout stretches ballot supply in NH

Nick Juliano Published: Tuesday January 8, 2008  del.icio.us |
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New Hampshire voters were shattering turnout records Tuesday especially in the Democratic presidential primary, sending elections officials scrambling to find enough ballots to meet the demand.

"We're going to have historic turnout, there's no doubt about that," Pia Carusone, communications director for the New Hampshire Democratic Party, told RAW STORY.

Carusone said she was unaware of details regarding reports that polling locations were running out of Democratic ballots.

ABC News' Political Radar blog reported that officials were concerned about running out of ballots in at least four cities and towns.

Party officials were "just learning as you are about the ballots," Carusone said by phone Tuesday afternoon. "I'm just hearing about it as you are."

Phones at the New Hampshire Secretary of State's office were busy Tuesday afternoon.

CNN reported that extra ballots were being sent to several polling locations.

"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," Deputy Secretary of State Dave Scanlan told MSNBC. "They're also stating to us that it's the Democratic ballots that have them more concerned than the Republican ballots."

New Hampshire's secretary of state predicted a half-million voters would turn out Tuesday, breaking previous turnout records. It was unclear whether even that prediction would be too modest.

"We're certainly encouraged," Scanlan told MSNBC's First Read, "and if it goes beyond what the secretary predicted, that's great."

This video is from MSNBC's MSNBC News Live, broadcast January 8, 2008.



This video is from CNN's Newsroom, broadcast January 8, 2008.