A hotly contested presidential primary brought a higher than usual turnout on Super Tuesday, as polling officials reported a steady, heavy stream of voters throughout the day.

Democrat Bernie Sanders earned the most votes in Mattapoisett and Rochester with 691 and 500, respectively. In Marion, 530 people cast ballots for Hillary Clinton to Sanders’ 510.

Republican Donald Trump won the most votes against his opponents in all three towns. Marion, Mattapoisett and Rochester residents cast 358, 483 and 547 votes, respectively. All results are unofficial at this time.

With polls closing at 8 p.m., the percentage of voters casting ballots was 49 percent in Marion, 42 percent in Rochester and 52 percent in Mattapoisett.

Those numbers are in stark contrast to the 2012 presidential primary. In that contest, 19 percent of Marion voters, 15 percent of Rochester voters and 18 percent of Mattapoisett voters cast ballots.

Rochester Town Clerk Naida Parker said that the Senior Center was packed around 5 p.m. as many people arrived to vote after work.

By that time, approximately 1,300 voters had already cast ballots, Parker said.

“This is a heavier turnout than I anticipated,” she said. “There’s been a good showing.”

In the weeks leading up to the election, Parker saw a sharp spike in the number of people registering to vote – nearly 200 over the course of two months.

“That’s unheard of,” Parker said, adding that an unusual amount of absentee ballots had been requested before the election.

Despite the heavy turnout, Parker reported no problems at the polls.

“I can’t complain,” she said.

On the Democratic ticket, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a self-described Democratic socialist, was the top vote getter in Rochester with 500. Former first lady and secretary of state Hillary Clinton netted 325 votes.

Republican voters cast 547 ballots for businessman Donald Trump, 122 for Ohio Gov. John Kasich, 137 for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and 96 for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

Outside Marion’s polling station at the Benjamin Cushing VFW Post, voters streamed into the building to cast their ballots throughout the day.

Of the town’s 3,764 registered voters, 1,874 participated in the election. In Marion 2,186 people are registered as un-enrolled, 698 Republican, 856 Democrat, 3 Green Rainbow and 8 United Independent.

For most of the day, friends Julianne Cummings of Wareham and Pat Comenole of Dennis stood outside campaigning.

Comenole was on hand to support Cummings who was running for Republican State Committee Woman. Both Cruz backers, they found time for some lighthearted banter with a Trump supporter.

“We went over and shook his hand for a photo opportunity,” said Comenole. “It was cold all day, but we had fun.”

In Marion, Clinton earned 530 votes with Sanders coming in a close second with 510.

For the Republican nominees, Trump netted 358 votes, Kasich 183, Rubio 148, Cruz 80 and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson 15.

Fifty-two percent of registered voters in Mattapoisett came to the polls with a total of 2,465 residents casting presidential primary ballots either at Center School or by absentee ballot before Super Tuesday. Of the 4,742 registered voters, 2,999 are un-enrolled, 684 Republican, 1,034 Democrat, 3 Green Rainbow and 14 United Independent.

For the Republican race, Mattapoisett voters favored Trump with 510 votes with Kasich in second with 248 votes, followed by Rubio with 187 votes and Cruz with 94.

Sanders had a few more votes than Clinton with 707 votes to 628 votes.

The town’s new tabulator did cause some trouble, backing up ballots during at least one point in the day and requiring the Town Clerk’s office to hand count votes, thereby delaying the official final count.

As in many other locations, the number of voters was expected to be higher than the previous primary. In 2012, only 17.9 percent of the 4,561 registered voters came to the polls, the majority of those voting Republican since incumbent Barack Obama was the lone Democratic candidate.