Long lines, but few problems were reported Tuesday morning as Americans cast ballots on the final day of two-year election odyssey that promised a historic result -- no matter who is declared the victor.
Waits of more than an hour to vote were the order of the day, but there were few reports of problems amid praise for the impact of early voting which allowed as many as 40 percent of voters in battleground states such as Florida and North Carolina to make their selections early and avoid a crush at the polls today.
In Missouri, another battleground state where Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain were locked in arace too close to predict, lines also formed early, and there were reports of widespread confusion in Kansas City when pollworkers discovered they'd been given the wrong lists of voters' names.
One voter, Kristin Gernon, said she couldn’t wait any longer and had to leave her polling place on 39th Street shortly after 7 a.m. Gernon said she would return later to vote, but that many others couldn’t wait any longer and might not be able to return. Missouri does not permit early voting.
And there were lighter moments, as well. At Hilton Head in South Carolina, one woman was in labor when she and her husband showed up to vote. Election workers quickly accommodated the couple, as waiting voters gladly let them move to the head of the line. Read the story at islandpacket.com.
For other voting reports:
Read about Missouri voting at KansasCity.com
Read about Florida voting at MiamiHerald.com
Read about North Carolina voting at CharlotteObserver.com
Read about Kentucky voting at Kentucky.com
Read about Georgia voting at Macon.com
Read about Kansas voting at Kansas.com
Read about California voting at sacbee.com
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