It looks like Super Tuesday really was: election officials throughout the country reported heavy, if not record, turnout for yesterday's presidential primary.

Primaries have traditionally low voter turnout, yet there's a lot of interest in this year's race. Analysts attribute the high interest level partially to the close, potentially historic race on the democratic side and also to the fact that, for the first time since 1952, there isn't an incumbent president or incumbent vice president running.

Voters began trickling into some Utica polling places the minute the polls opened at Noon Tuesday and apparently, they kept coming.

Out of nearly 43,000 democrats eligible to vote in yesterday's primary, about 15,000 did so. Out of roughly 51,000 eligible republican voters, about 13,000 came out.

The county's election commissioners say - not bad for a primary.

"We thought it was a good turnout in some areas," said Angela Pedone Longo, Democratic Election Commissioner in Oneida County. "In some areas I guess it was pretty slow. I know in my district, I was very surprised we had a very nice turnout."

"A lot of Republicans turned out, which is good, because considering after Giuliani dropped out, we didn't know New York and in the county," said Patricia DiSpirito, Republican Election Commissioner. "He was very popular in the county and in upstate New York."

Election workers today are emptying the election bags from the machines. They say it'll take a day or two, maybe even three just to do that.

We're told turnout would have been even heavier if all the registered independents could have voted yesterday.

The Oneida County Board of elections got many calls from them, some of whom were pretty upset they couldn't vote. In New York State you have to be registered to a major party.

In Herkimer County, Board of Election Officials tell NEWSChannel 2 that turnout was lower than expected for Republicans and Democrats. Meanwhile, in Otsego County, more than 40% of the registered Democrats voted, white just over 30% of registered GOP voters turned out for the primary.