San Francisco's in-person turnout at the polls on November 8th was nothing to write home about: Just about half of the city's registered voters made it to a polling place on election day according to the SF Public Press. But that's not the whole story: "More vote-by-mail ballots were cast for this election than for any previous San Francisco election," Department of Elections director John Arntz wrote in an election results report this weekend, the 15th such update since election day. "The Department will ultimately process nearly 1.3 million ballot cards associated with vote-by-mail ballots," he said.

"[We’re] pretty much running on sugar and caffeine at this point,” Jill Fox, the Department of Elections outreach manager, told the Public Press. She and 285 permanent and temporary staff have been working since the end of October, when they were registering voters. Since the 8th, they've been tallying ballots. “There was an incredible amount of interest in this election," says Fox. Her Department's goal is to finish with time for everyone to take the Thanksgiving holiday. "We’re all seeing the light at the end of the tunnel,” she told the Public Press.

In the end, San Franciscans cast 393,318 votes this election, more than any previous. That means about 77 percent of registered voters made their voices heard — although our population approaches 850,000, far fewer are registered to vote.

This year's numbers topped those from the 2008 general election: Those were 388,112, although with lower voter registration and a smaller population at the time, that meant turnout was higher as a percentage of registered voters, with 81 percent of them casting ballots that year.

The highest percentage of registered voters ever to vote in San Francisco remains the 1960 presidential race between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. 86 percent of registered voters, or 348,000 people, cast ballots in that election.

84 percent of voting San Franciscans selected Hillary Clinton for president, who appears on track to win the national popular vote by millions according to some measures. Just under 10 percent voted for President-Elect Donald Trump, who is on track to be chosen by the electoral college. Nationally, just 58 percent of registered voters cast their ballots in the November 8th electionaccording to the US Elections Project. In California, civic engagement was markedly better, with 65 percent of registered voters casting ballots per official provisional voting results.

Related: When Did Ballot Initiatives Start In CA, And What Was The Longest Ever Ballot?