Pat Dollard | Young Americans

Politico:

After a primary season marked by record-shattering voter turnout, election officials across the country are bracing for what might be an Election Day like no other.

Many state and local election officials expect turnout in the Nov. 4 presidential election to exceed that of 2004, when voter turnout hit 61 percent — which was the highest level since 1968, according to the Center for the Study of the American Electorate.

“November could see the highest turnout of my lifetime,” said Arizona Secretary of State Jan Brewer, 63. “Turnout could be up to as much as 80 percent.”

Arizona, of course, is home to the presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain. But election administrators across the country are warning of the possibility of a turnout tsunami, a prospect that both thrills and alarms them.

Much of that voter interest has been stoked by a drawn-out and highly competitive Democratic contest between two historic candidates. But interest also has been unusually high on the Republican side.

The first clue about this year’s election came in the nation’s first primary on Jan. 8 when more than 529,711 New Hampshire residents voted in the Democratic and Republican primaries, smashing the state’s presidential primary record of 396,385 set in 2000.

“That’s usually a general election turnout number,” said Secretary of State Bill Gardner, noting that about 578,000 voted in November 2000 general.

On Super Tuesday alone, turnout records were set in 15 states where both parties held Feb. 5 primaries. Twelve states saw record-breaking Democratic turnout while 11 set Republican turnout records.

In Missouri, more than 780,000 voters participated in the Democratic primary—a 47 percent increase over the previous record. In New Jersey, more than 1.1 million Democrats voted, a whopping 69 percent increase from the previous high. And Massachusetts saw a 48 percent voter participation increase over its record high.

While election administrators love to see higher-than-usual voter participation, the prospect of a turnout wave in November has many officials biting their nails over whether they’ll be able to handle it. Throughout the protracted presidential primary season, complaints ranging from long lines at polls to ballot irregularities frequently surfaced, in addition to concerns voiced over the reliability of electronic voting systems.

In the Feb. 12 District of Columbia primary, many polling places ran out of paper ballots. A week earlier, precincts across California reported similar ballot shortages.