Early election day queues suggest high turn-out in US

Voters trying to beat the rush turned out early to cast ballots in many precincts as the US presidential election day opened.

Umbrellas and raincoats were needed today from Texas to the lower Great Lakes, and snow-covered roads were a problem in the Texas Panhandle. In some places, voters were standing in line before the polling place doors opened.

Besides the presidency, voters were filling 34 Senate seats, 11 governorships and all 435 House seats.

Both parties had pushed to increase turnout among their supporters, and even with early voting in many states, tens of millions were expected to head to the polls before the long Election Day wound to a close.

“We wanted to come out early to vote but we never expected such a heavy turnout,” Linda Russell said as she stood in line before polls opened in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Elsewhere in North Carolina, lines of voters snaked down pavement and across a street at a Durham precinct, where one man brought a chair to ease the wait.

At a Forsyth County precinct, the first voter in line said he got there before dawn and soon was joined by several hundred more people.

Around 120 people had lined up shortly after the polls opened at St John’s Presbyterian Church near downtown Detroit, forming a line that snaked around the inside of the church as rain fell outside.

Republican US Senate candidate EJ Pipkin had to wait in a line that wound out the door before he voted at around 7.20am at an elementary school near his home in Stevensville, Maryland.

Mr Pipkin said it was exciting to see such a large turnout. “We’ve been pushing the message that voting matters, who’s in office matters, and I think we’re seeing a direct result of that today with this kind of turnout,” he said. “It bodes well for our democracy.”

A poll worker in Charleston, West Virginia, accidentally closed a ballot box that was not supposed to be shut until the polls close.

Because votes in that precinct could not be secured until the problem was fixed, a few residents had to cast provisional or challenged ballots.

“The locks are in place but they can’t close the box,” said voter Hattie Johnson. “I brought my sister because she has never voted before and she has to work this morning and now may not be able to vote.”

The car park was crowded at Dent Middle School in Columbia, South Carolina, and around 200 people were waiting in line when the polls opened at 7am

“It’s not normal,” said 75-year-old Timothy Evans Sr, a long-time poll worker. “Four years ago we had a little over 100 voters. It’s really almost double that amount.”

Robert Thomas, 21, was among around 150 people in line when the polls opened in Miami at the Mount Zion AME Church, but he said he wished there were more young people there.

“We need to get more young people to vote, like myself,” said Mr Thomas, voting in his first presidential election. “I looked around and you see some, but it should be a stronger crowd.”

Brian Fravel, 43, said he has been voting at the same site in Columbus, Ohio, for 17 years and never had to wait – but there was a long line when he arrived at the Northland Church of Christ at 7.30am.

“I thought I was early enough to beat it,” said Mr Fravel, who had to wait for 45 minutes.