Almost 1.7 million votes were cast in the Democratic and Republican races yesterday, according to unofficial tallies by The Associated Press. That smashed the 1992 primary turnout of just over 1 million voters.
A high number of Republican crossover votes sent several counties scrambling to print extra ballots. A judge ordered some polls in northwestern Indiana's Porter County to stay open an additional hour after several precincts ran out of Democratic ballots.
Other ballot shortages were reported in Howard, Jackson and Hancock counties as voters turned out in droves for the presidential race. Local voting officials printed substitute ballots that were to be counted by hand.
The ballot shortages occurred as voters embraced Indiana's first meaningful presidential primary in 40 years. In counties across the state where most precincts were counted early, thousands more votes were cast than during the state's record primary turnout in 1992.
