Staff Photo by Margaret Fenton

Phillip E. Bayston, left, Erlanger Medical Center Policeman Frank Newson and LaDonald Bryant all waited in line outside the Hamilton County Board of Elections Wednesday morning to cast their ballots. Early voting started Wednesday in Hamilton County with a record number of voters. Voters cast over 600 ballots by noon at the Hamilton County Board of Elections and over 350 at the Northgate location. Both locations had lines stretching out the door all morning.

A crush of voters swarmed the polls Wednesday as Tennessee began its 15-day early voting period.

More than 4,200 people voted at three polling sites in Hamilton County, according to Hamilton County Election Commission workers at the sites.

Voters waited for as little as a few minutes up to an hour to cast their ballots, workers said.

Though there are a handful of races on some voters’ ballots, the huge turnout is due to the presidential race between Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., officials say.

“I just had to cast my vote for Barack Obama today,” said Elaine Manderville a few moments after completing her ballot form at the East Brainerd Recreation Complex. “I waited an hour in line ... but really I’ve been waiting my whole life for this.”

Lines moved quickly at the Hamilton County Election Commission offices, said Superintendent Bud Knowles, who sits just right of the commission’s front door during voting. He estimated wait times, when at their longest, were 15 minutes at that location.

In Hixson, at Northgate Mall, voters reported waiting between 5 and 10 minutes.

But in East Brainerd, around 4 p.m. when Ms. Manderville voted, lines snaked from the voting room around the corner and sometimes stretched down a wall in the recreation center’s gymnasium.

Mr. Knowles said he wasn’t sure why some polling places were moving slower than others. He sent an extra computer operator to Brainerd to help clear the bottleneck there. Otherwise, the commission has staffed each of the three sites with five computer operators and three other staffers to help move things quickly, he said.

Wait times had more to do with the excitement of a presidential campaign, suggested Charlotte Mullis-Morgan, deputy superintendent. One thousand people voted at headquarters by noon, and 174 had cast their ballots in the first hour of voting, she said.

“Things are going smoothly so far. We don’t know of any complications,” Ms. Mullis-Morgan said. “People should be ready to stand in line. They are going to have a line no matter where they go or when they vote or if they vote early or on Election Day.”

On Wednesday morning about 50 local Democrats rushed the doors at the election commission to vote early. About 20 of them had camped out on the lawn Tuesday night in advance of voting. The number of opening-door voters was far less than the several hundred that local Democrats had predicted.

“This is our chance to change the direction for the country,” said Justin Wilkins, local volunteer coordinator for the Obama campaign.

But there seemed to be plenty of Republicans voting Wednesday, as well. Across town at the election commission office was Don Alosi of Ooltewah, who said he cast his ballot for John McCain.

“This race is so important, so everyone needs to vote,” Mr. Alosi said.

Early in the morning, next to the Democratic voters, Teresa St. Clair also voted for Mr. McCain.

“We want a man with morals and integrity,” she said.

Early voting ends Oct. 30, and Election Day is Nov. 4. The new president will be inaugurated Jan. 20, 2009. Sens. McCain and Obama are in a tight race for the White House.

Local voters also will find the following races on the ballot: One U.S. Senate seat from Tennessee; the 3rd Congressional District; Tennessee State Senate District 10; Tennessee House of Representatives Districts 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30; the District 4 school board special election; and municipal elections in East Ridge, Lakesite, Red Bank, Signal Mountain, Soddy-Daisy and Walden.

Staff writer Matt Wilson contributed to this story.

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