NASHUA, H.H. — The turnout in New Hampshire is widely reported to be through the roof, with an on-the-record quote out of the Secretary of State’s office attesting to that fact.

I got a taste of it in Ward 5 in Concord at the Green Street Community Center. There was nearly 50 percent turnout with two and half hours of voting to and a bunch of absentee ballots to process. For a primary election, that’s significant turnout. A couple hundred people also registered. (There were about 3300 voters in the ward when the day began.)

Some choice quotes:

Burton Nault, who voted for McCain because, “I’m a Yankee and not a socialist.”

Rose Gray, who voted for Obama because “I like him as a whole person.”

Ann O’Connell, who took a bus from Webster, Mass., to volunteer for Clinton. Of Obama, this tough-as-nails woman said: “He’s not ready, and we need ready.”

Joe Dwyer, a young guy who works for an architecture firm, took a 33-hour bus ride to volunteer for Rep. Ron Paul, the Republicans’ libertarian candidate.

Now, it’s the waiting game.