DaytonDailyNews.com

COLUMBUS — A million more Ohioans cast Democratic ballots this presidential primary than in 2004 — a 76 percent surge that left at least one county short of ballots.

It's unclear how much of the Democratic increase was due to "crossover" voters who had voted Republican or independent in the past but switched this time around, said Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner. It's also unclear how many of those crossover voters can be counted on to do the same in the fall.

The Ohio Democratic Party was quick to say that the surge "heralded a major shift of independent and Republican voters to Democratic candidates."

"Based on current returns, registered Ohio Democrats now outnumber registered Ohio Republicans by a ratio of more than 2:1," the party said.

The GOP had an 11 percent increase in ballots cast this week versus four years ago. However, President Bush was the incumbent then — and unopposed in the Republican primary — and this year's Republican contest was all-but-decided weeks ago. Many election analysts have warned against drawing too many conclusions from the numbers of voters in Democratic primaries versus those in Republican contests, and polls have shown that John McCain would be competitive against either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.

Brunner said she is very pleased with how the election ran, particularly given the record turnout of 44.5 percent and unpredictable troubles including flooding, ice storms, power outages and bomb threats.

In Sandusky County, a machine that prints ballots on demand broke down and officials couldn't keep up with the run on Democratic ballots, Brunner said. Polls in Sandusky and Cuyahoga counties stayed open until 9 p.m. by court order to give voters a chance to cast ballots.

Still, the evening went much more smoothly than last November, she said, when Putnam County elections officials used faulty memory cards in voting machines and it resulted in a "meltdown."

"We've gone from being in intensive care to walking on crutches," she said. "I think by November we'll be walking on the street like anyone else, and (the national media) will be looking at another state (for elections problems)."

Brunner still wants to see changes in the fall that include vast improvements in poll worker training, a switch to an all-paper-ballot system statewide, and an expansion of the number of places where people can cast early ballots.

So far, however, Brunner's plan to replace the touch-screen machines — which are used in 57 counties — hasn't gotten much support.

When Gov. Ted Strickland was asked whether he supports Brunner's plan, he said it's a nice idea but that it would be costly.

"What is past is past and we can't go back and re-write history," he said. "But what we have to do now is provide a standard of common sense to how we deal with the present as we move into the future."

Contact this reporter at (614) 224-1624 or lbischoff@DaytonDailyNews.com.