First reports posted a minute after polls close.

PORT ORCHARD — Kitsap County was the first in the state to post election results after Tuesday’s primary, giving the public a look at the initial totals one minute after the polls closed.

Kitsap County Elections Manager Dolores Gilmore said “We were first because our staff is really great. We were able to have everything ready to go and everything went very smooth, and we were able to post the first results.”

The first totals included about 40,000 votes. Results from about 5,000 ballots were added to the vote total on Wednesday afternoon, contributing to the eventual expectation of a 50 percent voter turnout in Kitsap County for the state’s first top-two primary.

Gilmore said approximately 23,000 ballots were left to count on Thursday, and she expected another 15,000 to come in before the rate slowed appreciably.

The office will post daily results until the election is certified on Sept. 3.

“From an auditor’s perspective, things went very very well,” said Kitsap County Auditor Walt Washington. “From a turnout perspective, we were a little disappointed. Although in Kitsap County, as usual, the turnout percentage was greater than the rest of the state.”

Gilmore said the fast reporting had to do with the ability to input and verify the data from all ballots received.

At 8 p.m. the staff only needed to create a report that analyzed and tabulated the data.

The initial total reflected votes received prior to the day before election, although some ballots submitted on Tuesday were included.

The Auditor’s Office hired about 50 temporary workers to handle customer service, vote tabulation and signature verification among other duties.

Each is trained for the specific job, and every election turns over about 10 percent of the workers — a low amount, which Gilmore said contributes to the efficiency of the process.

Gilmore said additional workers will be hired for the Nov. 4 election in anticipation of a heavy voter turnout.

“This was a coup for us,” said Washington. “Just on a personal pride level, my staff is just the best. This is a good thing because we are ahead of the game. We plan ahead, make sure our poll sites are all working correctly. We stay in communication and get the results in as soon as we can.”

Gilmore said the process ran without a glitch. One change from previous years is that a greater percentage of voters personally delivered their ballots to the office in Port Orchard.

Washington, who was appointed as auditor in March and is running for his first elected term, said there are several outreach programs in development to get voters registered for the Nov. 4 general election.

One program is a result of a partnership with the League of Women Voters to run a voter registration booth at this week’s Kitsap County Fair.

For complete results go to www.kitsapgov.com and select “Elections.”

To apply for a temporary position tabulating ballots for the Nov. 4 election, contact Suzanne Boltz at (360) 337-7280.