photo by: Ashley Hocking

Election clerk Mary Moffitt organizes ballots at the Douglas County Courthouse on Tuesday, August 7, 2018.

Douglas County voters turned out for Tuesday primary in record shattering numbers, Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew said.

More than 18,500 voters participated in the primary for a turnout of about 24 percent. The turnout number isn’t known because advance ballots the Clerk’s Office receives by Friday will still be counted in the election.

But Shew won’t need to see final numbers to know this year’s primary election had by far the best turnout of a primary election. The previous record was the 13,709 who voted in the August 2004 primary, he said.

A large election polling site turnout was responsible for the record, Shew said. Advance voting turnout ran only slightly higher than normal.