PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI - Six hours before polls were scheduled to close, a polling place north of Grand Rapids ran out of Democratic ballots.

A poll worker at Ambrose Ridge Apartments in Plainfield Township said she kept a list of prospective voters and called them all back after the township delivered additional ballots. Voter turnout was higher than expected, with a large number of twenty-somethings showing up at the polls and using up Democratic ballots by about 2 p.m., a precinct chairman said.

The ballot shortage is indicative of what area clerks are calling a "steady" stream of voters across the area Tuesday, March 8, for Michigan's presidential primary election.

"We've seen steady voting," said Rich VanderKlok, clerk in Georgetown Township, west of Grand Rapids. "Those people that work at the polls that have been there in the past all are saying that they're experiencing more voters than they have in the past.

"We're seeing new voters, and not necessarily just younger people either."

About 94 percent of absentee ballots that the township mailed out have been returned, VanderKlok said.

Voter traffic "has been very steady" in Ada Township, east of Grand Rapids, as well, Clerk Jacqueline Smith said. She expects turnout to top the 31 percent in Ada in the 2008 presidential primary, the last time both major political parties were nominating candidates for the White House.

Grand Rapids has been on pace today for about 26 percent of registered voters to cast a ballot. That's higher than the city experienced in 2000 and 2008.

Ottawa County has received more calls than normal from voters who aren't sure where to cast a ballot, said Justin Roebuck, county clerk. That "tells me that people are voting today who haven't typically participated in the primary process before," he said.

The precinct chairman at Ambrose Ridge in Plainfield Township declined to comment on how long that polling place was without Democratic ballots or how many people were affected.

Ruth Ann Karnes, the township clerk, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Matt Vande Bunte writes about government and other issues on MLive. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.