TAMPA - Voting went off without a hitch Precinct 169 at A. Leon Lowry Child Care Center on W. Cypress Street in Tampa, where teams of Democratic and Republican poll watchers observed the balloting.

"Basically, things have gone smoothly," said Arnold DuBose, with the AFL…CIO Voter Protection Program.

"I didn't find any problems," said Barbara Johnson, 53, who waited about 45 minutes to cast her ballot. "It went really smooth."

About 20 people waited in line outside the building when the polls closed at 7 p.m. They were allowed to vote.

Voter challenges were minimal, in the heavily Democratic district, fewer than 12 in a precinct with more than 1,756 registered voters. The challenged voters cast provisional ballots.

"From the information we had, we believed they were not eligible to vote," said Elizabeth Wessel, a poll watcher for the Bush-Cheney campaign.

Things did not go as smoothly at Precinct 165 at Greater Bethel Baptist Church on Jefferson Street in Tampa, the polling place for University of Tampa students.

Seven students showed up to vote, but elections officials told them they had no record of their having registered.

The students, who said they registered on campus, waited hours to cast provisional bal lots because the precinct ran out of them, the students were told.

Adrienne Krum, cq a 20-year- old sophomore from Souderton, Pa., waited from 4:15 p.m. until a new supply of provisional ballots arrived around 7:30 p.m.

"This is my first opportunity to vote," said Krum, voting in her first election. "So many of my friends have been working for both sides. It's very important to vote...It's a right I wanted to exercise."

Kristen Kelly, cq a 19-year-old sophomore, also waited for hours to cast a provisional ballot. She left the polling place relieved she'd gotten to vote, but uncertain of what would happen with her provisional ballot.

"Now that I got to vote, I'm happy," she said. "I'm afraid it's not going to count."

An elections official at the precinct said she could not discuss the reason for the delay.

-Gary Haber/The Tampa Tribune

CARROLLWOOD - Brian Taylor, an independent contractor in computer software, was talking at home with an important client in Michigan on Tuesday when he realized that he was almost out of time to vote.

``I was literally on the phone when I said, I gotta go,'' said Taylor, who arrived at his precinct, Messiah Lutheran Church on Hutchison Road, at 6:57 p.m. No one else got in in line after Taylor. ``I still don't believe I'm the last person.''

Taylor had returned from working with his client in Michigan on Monday night, in part because of the election. He voted for President Bush, saying the Democratic leadership had become too divisive and negative in recent years.

About 80 people were in line at 7 p.m. All voted by 7:45.

Four people arrived between 7:02 and 7:10 p.m., but Joseph Dintino, a precinct deputy, politely turned them away, telling them that voters were required to be in line by 7. Dintino remained at the end of the line until all voters had entered the building. At that point, he closed the door and let out those who had voted one by one.

Poll workers reported a heavy turnout but no problems.

-Kevin Barnard/The Tampa Tribune
Full story

TAMPA - It was a literal race to the finish line at the West Tampa Convention Center.

Almost like the end of a marathon, dozens of campaign workers and poll watchers cheered for people to get into the line to vote before 7 p.m.

They clapped as Gladys Montana and Rene Rodriguez trotted, children in tow, into the last place in line before the poll closed.

They'd originally gone to a polling place in Carrollwood, they said, but were told they were in the wrong place.

Gladys Montana said she was worried that they wouldn't make it in time. She said she'd be disappointed if she and her husband didn't get to vote.

"We've been looking forward to this," she said. "We want Bush to stay being our president."

Montana, who emigrated from Colombia when she was 8 years old, works for a title insurance company. Her husband, Rodriguez, came to the U.S. from Mexico in 1987.

Both said they didn't mind being the last ones in line, or having to wait behind at least 75 other people to cast their ballots.

"I think this is going to be the most important election in a long time," Montana said.

-Anthony McCartney/The Tampa Tribune

TAMPA - Forty-eight-year-old Isaiah Saffold sprinted the last 200 yards to be the last voter at Precinct No. 309 at the Eddie Newkirk Life Center at 6:50 p.m.

"I realy wanted to make a difference this year," Saffold said. "A lot of people talk about making a difference. I wanted to make a difference, this was my chance."

He cast his ballot for Kerry-Edwards.

Caroll U. Williams, a 48-year-old, who cast her first ballot Tuesday with her daughter, Charrondra Williams, 20.

"I've never voted but I had to vote this year because I'm going to lose my Social Security," said Carroll Williams, who voted for Kerry. "I don't like Bush."

"I make minimum wage. We need a new president to change that," interjected her daughter, Charrondra.

Marjorie Bowens-Wheatley, a volunteer poll watcher with Election Protection, said there were several verbal challenges at this polling place, but no official challenges.

In one case a woman in a wheelchair with a Kerry-Edwards sticker was threatened by a man who said he was going to challenge her right to vote, but a volunteer poll watcher, who is a lawyer, intervened and the man dropped it.

"This is an attempt to stir up trouble with no justification," said Bowens-Wheatley.

The precinct had no parking for disabled voters, so people walking with canes and walkers had to walk several blocks to get to the polls, Bowens-Wheatley said.

- Cloe Cabrera/The Tampa Tribune

PALM BEACH - Election day in Palm Beach County was a far cry from four years ago as no major snafus were immediately reported.

Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Theresa LePore said her mood was drastically different from four years ago.

"Things have been going very well," LePore said. "You always pray for the best and hope that nothing happens."

The only major incident occurred at a polling location in Boynton Beach where about 37 votes were possibly lost because of a power outage.

LePore said it would take days to determine whether the outage actually cost votes.

At the polls, there were long lines to start the day. By midday, many poll locations had short or no lines.

West Palm Beach resident Barbara Mims was impressed by the way the polls were run.

She said she was not allowed to vote four years ago after getting the runaround about her poll location being moved, so she was skeptical when going to vote this year.

Instead, she said she met many neighbors and friends at Temple Israel on Flagler Drive, and even found long-lost friend Patricia Jones for the first time in 20 years.

"I thought it would be rowdy, but it was very pleasant," Mims said.

Even the protesters outside the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office were in a good mood.

Jim Whelan, who called himself the official "Registered Florida Recounter" arrived at the office at 7:30 a.m. dressed in an elephant "Dumbo" outfit protesting how the state can't determine the proper number of eligible voters.

He said he rented the costume from Fort Lauderdale for $100 because "we can't figure out how to vote."

"I'm ready to recount," said Whelan, a native Canadian who became an American citizen a year and a half ago. "We still can't get it right."

-Michael H. Samuels/The Tampa Tribune

CARROLLWOOD - At Precinct No. 505 in the Henderson Road Baptist Church, the turnout was so heavy that voters arriving at 5 p.m. stood in line about 90 minutes before being able to go inside and sign in.

One man who has been voting at the polling place on the western edge of Carrollwood for 13 years said before Tuesday he'd never seen more than four people waiting to enter.

After he stood in line for about 45 minutes, he counted 74 people in line ahead of him. After he signed the register, there was there was only one blank line left on the page.

When he left at 6:20, there were easily 200 people in a line that snaked out of the polling place in the activity center, around the circular front drive, across the front of the church and down the far side and back to the overflowing parking lot.

Poll workers quizzed those standing in line to make sure they were at the correct precinct. One of them said some people had stood in line for 2 hours at Precinct 503 at the Seventh Day Adventist Church on the other side of Henderson Road before learning they were in the wrong polling place.

-Leigh Hogan/The Tampa Tribune

BARTOW - By 8 p.m. unofficial results were already counted from 143 of Polk County's 161 precincts.

Elnora W. Peterson, clerk at the predominantly African-American Precincts 502/504 in Bartow, said the busiest times of the day were first thing in the morning and about 5 p.m.

A poll watcher sat behind the poll workers but had not made any challenges, she said.

At Precinct 507 at the Bartow Civic Center the elections deputy was able to lock the door promptly at 7 with no one in line.

-Cheryl Schmidt/The Tampa Tribune

ST. PETERSBURG - The voting never slowed down at Precinct No. 187, in north St. Petersburg.

"Not one machine was empty all day," said Jennie Healy, a clerk with the elections office. She said it was the heaviest voter turnout she recalls in the 20 years she's been at that poll.

A poll worker estimated that well over 1,000 people voted there Tuesday.

-Philip Morgan/The Tampa Tribune

Juan Osorio waited for more an hour in line Tuesday night at the West Tampa Convention Center only to find out that he was in the wrong precinct.

By the time he found out, it was after 7:30 p.m. and his proper precinct was closed.

"It's too late for me," he said.

Angry, Osorio huddled with poll watchers who tried to get election officials to allow him to cast a provisional ballot.

He said if he didn't get the chance to vote, "it's going to make me feel stupid. I'm a taxpayer. I'm a worker. There's a person who I want to vote for for president."

After nearly half-an-hour, an election official came out and told Osorio that he could cast a provisional ballot, but it wouldn't count since he was in the wrong precint.

Angry, he left.

- Anthony McCartney/The Tampa Tribune

TAMPA - About 500 volunteers with the national voting rights group, Election Protection, monitored about 21 predominantly black voter precincts in Hillsborough County.

"We had a lot of complaints today but not nearly as many as we were anticipating," said attorney Fred Evenson, a spokesman for the organization and a former Tampa resident who now lives in California.

While no major pattern of voter intimidation was evident, there were problems, Evenson said.

Among the problems that did surface were complaints that some precincts were not accessible to disabled voters, Evenson said.

Some people, who thought they should have been removed from the felon list, were still listed, he said.

Other voters called the group's hotline seeking help in finding their precincts. A few soldiers who didn't receive absentee ballots mailed to them overseas were directed to a web site to download ballots, Evenson said.

"We saved hundreds of votes today," Evenson said. "My hope is that the organization (Election Protection) will make some recommendations on how [Hillsborough County] can make elections more efficient and fair to voters."

-Kathy Steele/The Tampa Tribune

TAMPA - A 76-year-old arrived just minutes too late to cast her ballot at Precinct No. 123 at the Tampa Garden Center, 2629 Bayshore Blvd.

She had arrived at the polling place on time with her husband, who made it inside in time to vote.

But the time she parked and chatted with friends she saw outside, it was 7:05 p.m. - too late to get inside.

As the woman came to the door, sample ballot in hand, she was turned away by Beth Wolfe, a clerk of the precinct.

The voter was disappointed that she didn't get to vote, but not angry at the poll worker.

"I understand. I know the rules are the rules," the voter said. "If I had been smart, I would have voted early."

She said she didn't vote early because she'd heard news reports that the lines were long and she can't stand for long periods of time.

-Ellen Gedalius/The Tampa Tribune

USF - Tuesday was just another test, of sorts, for college junior Joseph Rantus.

In the end, voting took a lot of patience and a lot of time.

At 7 p.m. Tuesday, the 24-year-old science major from Fort Pierce had the dubious honor of being last in line to cast a ballot at Precinct 353, The Marshall Center on the University of South Florida campus.

The precinct with nearly 1,400 registered voters opened with only three voting machines. A fourth was added at 3:30 p.m., after consistently long lines resulted in waits of nearly three hours.

"I stopped by four times today to see if the line was going to let up any," Rantus said. With the 7 p.m. poll closing looming, he decided to tough it out, but not before leaving one more time - to retrieve some reading material: ""Perspectives in Plant Cell Recognition." "I have a big lab report due," he explained.

He rushed back to The Marshall Center in time to be tagged as the last voter in a line of 140. A poll worker sat next to him, identifying Rantus as the official end of the line of those allowed to cast ballots.

Rantus estimated it would take close to two hours to reach a voting machine, but said it was his duty.

"People have died for this right," he said. "I guess it goes deep into the heart of America's roots, the essence of the American Dream."

Rantus, a registered independent, wouldn't divulge his presidential preference. "I don't like either one of them to be completely honest," he said of the incumbent president and his Democratic challenger.

- George Wilkens/The Tampa Tribune

HOLIDAY - Ruth Reuter, 86, of New Port Richey and her friend, Jane Broschartcq, 90, of Holiday, received a quick voting machine demonstration before casting their votes at the Gulf Harbors precinct.

"I think seeing that demonstration definitely helped," Reuter said.

"And no matter what your age," added Broschart, "you have to get out and vote and show you're still with it."

- Steve Kornacki/The Tampa Tribune

HOLIDAY - Jim Turtle handed out brochures in front of the Webster College precinct for House District 45 House of Representatives Republican candidate Tom Anderson, while Rick Chapman did likewise for his opponent, Democrat Kevin Jensen.

"We had friendly exchanges all day," Turtle said.

"We were friendly," Chapman said. "Nobody stepped on the other guy's toes."

- Steve Kornacki/The Tampa Tribune

HOLIDAY - Alice Delgardo, the Democratic candidate for Pasco superintendent of schools, said she was visiting as many as 30 precincts from Holiday to Dade City.

Delgardo said, "One lady told me, 'I'm going to vote for you because you are here. Candidates never come here.' I'm so psyched about seeing so many people out to vote today."

Her sister, Elizabeth Dillon of Boston, voted by absentee ballot to accompany and support Delgardo.

"I've not ever seen this type of high voter turnout, not even in Boston," Dillon said.

- Steve Kornacki/The Tampa Tribune

HOLIDAY - Zachary Wolf Reich, 4, voted for George Bush in Holiday at the Webster College precinct. Luciano David, 2, voted for James Harris, the Socialist Workers Party presidential candidate, at the Aripeka Baptist Church precinct.

Kids were allowed to fill out printed ballots for candidates in all races in Pasco.

"He watched TV and listened to candidates with us," said his father, William Reich.

"It's important to let him have his choice," said his mother, Deborah Reich. "It's something all parents should consider letting their child do."

Zachary's parents said they both voted for Bush, too.

"But our daughter Tayler, who is 7, leaned to John Kerry, "Deborah Reich said. "She likes the way he dresses."

Luciano David chose James Harris after being shown pictures of the several presidential candidates.

"I want this one," the little boy said.

His mother, Dawn David, shook her head and said, "My son, the socialist."

- Steve Kornacki/The Tampa Tribune

ARIPEKA - Dawn and Thomas David moved from Palmdale, Calif., to Hudson in August, and thought they had registered to vote that month outside a library in Hudson.

"There were two or three people in front of a big table with clipboards and they asked if we wanted to register to vote," said Dawn David, 34. "They asked us a question about who we would vote for president if the election were today, and we both said Bush. That must have been the wrong answer."

She said they were told paperwork for their registration would appear in one to two months, and said they checked on it when applying for their driver's licenses Oct. 15 in Hudson. They were told they were not registered, and had missed the Oct. 4 registration deadline.

"I went in my room and cried," Dawn David said. "Panic set in. It's very important to vote. I considered flying back to California to vote."

She called Pasco voting supervisor Kurt Browning's office, and said she was told that all official voter registrations are done inside buildings. They had been had. Thomas David, 45, said they've since been in touch with a fraud hotline.

But after several phone calls, the Davids were allowed to submit hand-written provisional ballots, which Dawn David said will be reviewed by a judge.

"The hospitality we received at this precinct in Aripeka was outstanding," she said. "Should our votes count? Yes. Will our votes count? I don't know."

- Steve Kornacki/The Tampa Tribune

At Precinct No. 175, as poll closing time approached, people holding signs outnumbered voters going into Fellowship Masonic Lodge 265, 306 N. Lincoln Ave.

Voters expressed divided loyalties.

Wilson Martin, 37, of West Gray St., said he voted for Bush. "I want better to stay with the same president. I don't want a new one. I want to stay safe here in this country."

But Melissa Villa, 37, of North Lincoln Avenue, said she chose Kerry.

"I'm just Democratic and I'm staying with my party," said Villa, who voted at the precinct earlier in the day.

-Elaine Silverstrini/The Tampa Tribune

USF - About 140 people were waiting to vote at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Precinct 353 on the University of South Florida campus.

A poll worker assured those who were already in line that they would get to vote before the polling site closed.

The precinct had as many as 178 voters in line, at 2:30 p.m.

Higher-than-expected turnout prompted elections officials to add a fourth voting machine at the Marshall Center, a polling place for about 1,400 voters, about 3:30 p.m.

- George Wilkens/ The Tampa Tribune

PLANT CITY - A poll worker reached to close the door shut at 7 p.m. today just as Theressa Villatoro walked in to Bruton Memorial Library in Plant City.

But she still didn't make the cut-off for what would have been the first vote cast by the 18-year-old. Villatoro wasn't a registered voter.

"I thought if I voted for John Kerry there was a chance we'll see some difference," Villatoro said. "I thought he'd be a good leader for the country."

Villatoro wasn't alone in giving it her best shot.

A few others also didn't think pre-registration was a requirement, said Vera Small, precinct manager. There was also a woman from California, and some from Miami-Dade County who showed up hoping to cast a ballot, she said.

Some were also confused by early voting, and thought they could vote at any polling station today. Small said about 50 voters had to be re-directed to their correct precincts.

About 10,000 people cast ballots at Bruton Memorial during the six days of early voting, Small said. That was the third or fourth largest vote total among all of the library locations designated for early voting, she said.

On Tuesday about 1,000 people voted among about 2,700 registered to vote at the Bruton library precinct, Small said.

- Kathy Steele/The Tampa Tribune

When the polls opened at 7 a.m., precinct manager Judith Golden said there were about 50 to 60 people waiting in line at the Springhead Civic Center near Plant City.

People have a real interest in this election, she said. One voter was a 101-year-old man, whose daughter brought him to the precinct, Golden said.

Shortly before 5 p.m., about 30 people waited in line to cast ballots. By then more than 550 people had voted, poll workers said. They were waiting for the next wave once people got off work.

"These are working class people here," she said. "Real country people."

- Kathy Steele/The Tampa Tribune

TAMPA - At age 83 Mary Paul knew exactly who she wanted to vote for Monday, even from her hospital bed at St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa.

John Kerry for president and Mel Martinez for senator.

"She was really adamant," said her daughter Jennie Paul.

But a snafu left her ballotless, and her daughter futilely trying to reach the Hillsborough County elections office for help.

"I kept getting a busy signal," said Jennie Paul.

It's been a great disappointment for her mother, she said. The south Tampa resident, at age 17, was Miss Florida Orange Queeen. Her late husband, Gabe Paul, was president of the New York Yankees.

Hospital staff had taken orders for patients who needed ballots but when they were faxed on Tuesday, Jennie Paul said her mother missed out. A hospital employee told her several registered voters in the cancer center also did not receive ballots.

By 6 p.m. Jennie Paul figured there was little chance of getting a ballot even if she reached an election official.

"I am really behind the 8-ball," she said.

- Kathy Steele/The Tampa Tribune

ARCADIA - In Arcadia, the Kerry campaign picked up a brand-new worker in Michael Bryan-Brown.

The 46-year-old engineer from Seattle flew to Florida on Friday so he could make a difference in a swing state for his first political experience.

Today, he drove around Arcadia and Nocatee with other volunteers, announcing via megaphone where the polling sites were, and how long the lines.

"Even if Kerry loses, this experience has changed my relationship with American politics," he says.

- Jose Patin~o/The Tampa Tribune

TAMPA - It was smooth sailing Tuesday evening at the Kate Jackson Recreation Center, 821 S. Rome Ave., which houses precincts 129, 153 and 157.

Peter and Nancy Hughes, of Hyde Park, sat outside the polling place, around 5 p.m., with campaign signs for Democratic candidates including John Kerry, Julianne Holt and Betty Castor.

Peter Hughes, 55, said he looked to his gut for guidance. "Kerry will win the election, and he will win Florida."

"I see a lot of energy from young people, and I think that'll be an unknown factor," he said. ""I feel an energy in voters leaning toward Kerry, and I believe it will be young people who are going to come out and really dig for him,'' he said.

"That's the thing people are not taking into account."

The couple planned to hit several parties after the polls close, including those of Holt and Castor, and would end up at the bash for Kerry "celebrating his victory," Nancy Hughes said.

That party will be at the Hilton Tampa Airport Westshore, 2225 N. Lois Ave., which is where Nancy Hughes said President Clinton had his party 12 years ago. "As soon as I heard that, I knew it was a sign," she said.

Peter Hughes, who voted Monday at the Jan K. Platt Regional Library, said it took nearly two hours to cast his ballot. Nancy Hughes voted at Kate Jackson today and said things appeared to be running smoothly.

- Patricia Kim/The Tampa Tribune

UNIVERSITY AREA - Deltrisa Simmons was among "a ton of voters" who arrived at the University Area Community Center only to find their voting precinct, No. 563, had been moved to The Village of Tampa, a mobile home park on Skipper Road.

"I have to drive all the way to the other side now," said the 21-year-old University of South Florida student. "I hope there's not a line at the other place."

An A-frame sign outside the north Tampa center, still home to Precincts 562 and 566, notified voters of the split. Simmons said she was told letters were mailed to voters, though she never received one.

- George Wilkens/The Tampa Tribune

COLLEGE HILL - Coretta Smith arrived at the Eddie Newkirk Life Center, precinct 309 in College Hill, ready for anything.

She brought along a lawn chair, a sandwich, sunscreen, water and a magazine.

“I'm ready to wait as long as it takes,'' said Smith, 57, who works as a house cleaner. “They didn't let us vote in 2000. But nothing is going to stop me from voting today.''

Smith didn't have to wait long. The lines were moving quickly at the precinct. The wait was only a few minutes for voters.

"That president stole the White House,'' she added. "I'm doing my part so it won't happen again."

Nearby, Donovan Childers, piped in "That's right.''

Childers, 24, was voting in his first election.

"I don't want to be fightin' no war we shouldn't be in,'' said Childers, a truck driver. "People say, "what about Kerry, you don't know what he's going to do.' But I know what Bush has already done and we need a change.''

Poll workers said they were impressed at the number of young blacks turning out to vote.

"It's really wonderful to see," said a poll worker. "The line is moving quickly and everything is going smoothly."

- Cloe Cabrera/The Tampa Tribune

PLANT CITY - About half a dozen people held up campaign signs for Kerry/Edwards or Hillsborough County commission candidate Bob Buckhorn. They had staked out a spot along the driveway of the Plant City precinct at the Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center. No one wanted to speak to a reporter.

"You need to speak to our attorney,'' said one woman, wearing a Kerry/Edwards T-shirt. She indicated that they were ""Florida Democrats'' and pointed toward the recreation center.

Inside attorney Thomea Steele sat in a folding chair observing about 20 people either voting or checking in with poll workers.

"It's been breathtakingly boring," said Steele, who was part of a lawyers' contingent representing the Kerry/Edwards campaign. "We haven't had any challenges."

And at most half a dozen voters were handed provisional ballots, he said.

Poll workers have "kept it going and it's been very smooth today," Steele said.

- Kathy Steele/The Tampa Tribune

The line wrapped around the little VFW hall sitting on Gandy Boulevard. It's where some of Tampa's richest and poorest come together to vote.

It was the oddest scene.... in the humid weather, old, young, rich poor, Democrats, Republicans; not talking a whole lot of politics. No, it was about what a nuisance raccoons are in the back yard, sharing someone's newspaper, poll workers asking about your children.

It was a scene filled with irony. These people in line, who were about to electronically duke it out inside at their polling machines, seemed more like a friendly line at the ATM. No one lost their patience or argued over amendments or ugly campaign commercials.

What would have otherwise been a miserable hour long queue, reminding one of a painful, impatient wait for a two minute theme park ride, turned into a wonderful picture of why America sets itself apart from the rest of the world.

This indeed was a picture of democracy in action. People with starkly contrasting beliefs enjoying one another's company as they made history yet again, peacefully choosing the next leader of the free world.
- Lance Williams/News Channel 8

Hurricanes that hit DeSoto County affected where some people voted and how some candidates campaigned.

In Precinct 10, voters cast their ballots in an air- conditioned tent, instead of their typical voting place in the main building at the Arcadia Rodeo Grounds. That building is now being used by workers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The storms also changed the way candidates have campaigned, said Robert Heine, who is seeking re-election to the DeSoto County School Board.

In the past, candidates typically have taken part in political rallies, gone out door-to- door campaigning and left fliers on door knobs, he said.

This year, the rallies were cancelled because of the hurricanes.

"People didn't want to see you at their door knocking,'' he added.

"After the storm, you couldn't ask someone to vote when they didn't have a roof over their head,'' agreed Betty Sue Allen, whose husband, Delma, is running for county commission.

Heine said he relied on advertisements in the local newspaper and letters through the mail.

Despite the fact that many DeSoto residents lost their homes and are living with friends or relatives, or are living in homes damaged by the hurricanes, they were still turning out to the polls.

"I think we are having a good turnout for an area that has been through these storms. It has been tough on a lot of people,'' said Allen, a retired school teacher.

Heine expects a big turnout.

"Presidential elections always draw people out,'' Heine said.

Voting was going smoothly at precincts throughout the county.

-- Jose Patino/The Tampa Tribune

SEFFNER - The lines were long, but the pace was sufficient.

And everything was running smoothly at Precint 871 at the First United Methodist Church on N. Kingsway Rd. in Seffner Tuesday. The wait times ranged from 30 minutes to as long as 90, but many came prepared with books, newspapers or other reading materials to pass the time. One teacher brought his papers from school and graded them while in line. Also in line were a noticeable amount of young voters, many of them still in high school, casting their vote for the first time.

The only odd moment came when a women came along the line asking if anybody wanted literature to sway a No vote on Amendment 3.

Inside, things were running smoothly. Poll workers reported that they were ahead of the line outside because people were taking their time to vote. There also were no reports of problems with the new electronic voting system. The shortcut sheet to help with technical problems ""hasn't been touched'' on poll worker said.

- Erik Erlendsson/The Tampa Tribune

"Want some candy?'' the teen asked those aproaching the University Area Community Center, Precinct 562/566.

"I'm out here to make sure people vote, because I don't have that right,'' said the 17-year-old, a Plant High School senior who identified herself as a member of the Kerry campaign, which precluded her having her name published.

"This election is very important,'' said the teen, who visited seven precincts Tuesday to urge support for John Kerry and give away miniature Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

"Bush lied to us blatantly,'' she said. "How do you trust someone who lies?'' And, she added, "the economy is going to (expletive deleted.)''

Some say they know little about Kerry, she said, "But at least it's a change,'' she said.

"Want some candy? It's a little melted, but it's still good.''

-- George Wilkens/The Tampa Tribune

Jennifer Rhora, 29, didn't mind waiting in line to vote at Precinct 562 at the University Area Community Center, 14015 N. 22nd St.

"It means more people are turning out to vote, and that is definitely a good thing,'' she said, surveying a line that seemed to be mostly twenty- and thirty-somethings.

"Either that, or it means the whole process is cumbersome with red tape and moving slowly, but I haven't seen anything like that'' in the community center.

Rhora was waiting in line at 2 p.m., avoiding the early morning, late-afternoon and lunchtime crowds she anticipated. The line at the precinct in north Tampa moved steadily, and voters were getting in and out of the facility within 45 minutes.

Volunteers Dave Hearne, 29, and Lisa Beebe, 26, sat outside the polling place representing MoveOn PAC, a political action committee working to defeat George W. Busch.

Other volunteers from the group have been calling registered Democrats to remind them to vote, and Hearne and Beebe were checking voters' names off the organization's calling list as they voted.

"We're here trying to mobilize people who haven't voted in a while," Hearne said.

-- Amy Williams/The Tampa Tribune

At Pinellas County's election services center, poll watchers Kathleen Ford of the Kerry camp and David Dumville of the Bush camp chatted amicably as they watched the Election Canvassing Board inspect absentee ballots.

The only problems the pair reported hearing of by mid-afternoon were complaints from voters at eight separate precincts who said electronic voting machines were switching their votes to the candidate they had not selected.

In each case, poll workers helped voters reset the machines and all were eventually able to cast their ballot for the candidate of their choosing, said Lori Hudson, spokeswoman for Supervisor of Elections Deborah Clark.

Most of the problems could be traced to voters inadvertently touching the touch- screen voting machines while perusing the candidates, Hudson said. Long fingernails and large thumbs seemed to be the main culprits, she said.

If two voters complained about the same machine, poll workers were under instructions to recalibrate the devices to ensure that votes were recorded correctly, the spokeswoman said.

--Dave Sommer/The Tampa Tribune

About 3 p.m., 31-year-old Mark Bittrich - a police officer from New Rochelle, N.Y. - was still hoping to receive an absentee ballot in the mail.

He's been staying with his sister, Pam Paleveda, 42, and the pair were spending the afternoon at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

They laughed as they sat in front of a slot machine, trying to figure out the wordy, convoluted instructions to a game called "Mystery Bingo.''

Bittrich planned to slip away soon and check the mail, then head for the office of the supervisor of elections to see if they'd accept his ballot. Last minute or no.

"Oh, I have still have faith,'' he said, referring to the missing piece of mail. "I'm voting for Bush because I don't think it's a good idea to change presidents in the the midst of a war.''

- Jennifer Barrs/The Tampa Tribune

Ernie Marrufo used his bike and his lunch break to make sure he got to cast a vote for John Kerry Tuesday.

Four years ago, when Marrufo, 22, was living in Texas and voting for the first time, he thought George Bush was the right person to lead the country.

But four years later, Marrufo said he is worried about the war and doesn't believe Bush did enough to help the economy.

Marrufo said voting for change was worth skipping a meal and pedaling from his job at an auto parts store to wait in line for 45 minutes at his polling place at St. Marks Episcopal Church in Carrollwood Village.

"He didn't really live up to his promises,'' Marrufo said about Bush, before biking back to work. "Bush had his chance and now it's time for something different.''

-Andy Reid/The Tampa Tribune

Voters waited outside Precinct 127 on Davis Islands shortly before noon Tuesday talking on cell phones or quietly reading. The crowd dotted with young parents, empty nesters, retirees and urban professionals moved along steady for about hour outside the Sandra W. Freedman Tennis Complex.

Residents in line tucked under low-lying trees to shade themselves from the midday sun. Poll workers allowed six to eight voters inside the polling place every few minutes. Once inside, workers kept the line moving.

The electronic balloting took minutes to complete. Each voter was handed an "I Voted'' sticker and sent on their way.

-Kenneth Knight/The News Center

From serpentine to serene.

At least that was the way it went with the line to vote this afternoon at Precinct 422 at Real Life Church on West Waters Avenue in Town 'N Country. There were more pumpkins in a makeshift patch along the road than there were voters in line.

Voters encountered heavy lines in the morning and until after lunch, but things cooled down when the sun got things warmed up. How the evening crowd will be is anyone's guess.

But for Joy and Don Pierson, the door was open and the line was short about 2 p.m.

It gave Joy, 59, a chance to boot the elephant and hitch a ride on the donkey. A registered Republican, Joy said she couldn't take anymore of President Bush, who she described as ''someone who cannot even speak. He doesn't have a clue. It's hard for him to get up and give a speech. He just can't do it.''

For the record: Joy voted Democrat in 2000.

And Don, 64, a longtime Democrat, kept it all in the party and basked in the day of the donkey - at least for this couple from Town 'N Country.

-J.D. Callaway/The Tampa Tribune

DADE CITY - Donald Oser went to cast his vote at Precinct No. 5 in Pasco County on Tuesday morning. He didn't find out until after he arrived that he wouldn't be allowed to do so.

Oser said he was told by a poll worker that his name was no longer on the county's list of registered voters. Oser, 67, said he registered to vote in 1985 and has his voter registration card.

"I'm a veteran and I can't even vote?'' Oser said angrily. ''I've never heard of it."

Pasco County elections officials said deleting names from voter lists is standard for keeping the rolls up to date. Tiffannie Alligood, a senior deputy elections supervisor, said Oser registered in 1985 but never voted after that.

Alligood said Oser didn't contact the elections office for any reason - voting, updating his signature, updating his address or responding to mailings - in the years following so his record became inactive. If a record remains inactive through two federal general elections, as Oser's did, it's deleted, she said.

"He was removed from the rolls in 1995,'' Alligood said, "and he hasn't reregistered or done anything since.''

But the explanation didn't satisfy Oser.

"I want to sue 'em,'' he said.

-Todd Leskanic/The Tampa Tribune

Voters who turned out before noon at St. James United Methodist Church at Tampa Palms' Precinct 359 in Hillsborough County waited for about an hour to cast their ballots.

Many were thankful for the mild weather and for poll workers offering cold water. The mood was relatively calm, and people were courteous. Hillsborough County firefighters passed out their list of endorsements, including Betty Castor, Jim Davis and Ken Hagan.

A young man waved a "Viva Bush'' flag and blared patriotic music from his car.

One woman offered her canvas chair to a man perspiring in the sun. Another held a spot in a grassy portion of the line for a woman who had an allergic reaction to fire ants earlier in the week and was fearful of being bitten again.

At 12:45 p.m., the line outside the church had dissipated, but poll workers expected another early evening rush.

-Julia Ferrante/The Tampa Tribune

Voters at Precinct 112 at Bayshore Presbyterian Church in Tampa usually encounter little waiting. This morning at 9:20, the line was out the door and around the corner of the building. Still, it took only about 30 minutes to vote.

Voters passed the time in line talking about all the celebrities who had called them seeking votes for their candidates. One woman got four calls on Monday, with the last at 11 p.m.

No candidates courted votes and it was not obvious whether poll watchers were there or not. Poll workers said they had not encountered any challenges. Everything seemed to be moving smoothly.

By 2 p.m., the line no longer existed.

-Martha Durrance/The Tampa Tribune

As sneakers squeaked from the pickup basketball game nearby, the line of voters in Precinct 357 slithered about 15 deep inside a modestly sized conference room in the back of the New Tampa family YMCA just after noon.

In the line, the talk focused on the new electronic voting machines that were stationed around the room, especially among younger voters.

"I think these were the same (machines) that we used when we voted in the student government election,'' one voter told his friend while waiting in line.

Lines moved steadily and the wait was about 35 minutes.

-Eduardo A. Encina/The Tampa Tribune

A line of people waited for an estimated 1 1/2 hours late Tuesday morning outside the Westchase Swim and Tennis Center on Countryway Boulevard in Tampa.

The center was home to large voting Precinct No. 500 - and the especially small Precinct No. 506.

Many voters came not knowing that the long line was only for No. 500. Voters in precinct No. 506 were permitted to walk past the waiting hoards and vote with virtually no wait at the machines set up for the smaller precinct.

A polling official said he walked outside about every half hour and asked people in line if they were looking for 506. Every time he asked, he said, he found several people waiting patiently, even though there was no one standing at the 506 machines.

-Thomas W. Krause/The Tampa Tribune

At Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Clearwater, people waited about an hour to cast votes in the morning, precinct clerk Peter MacKenzie said. But by noon, the line had disappeared.

The mood was more serious Tuesday than during his previous four elections as a poll worker, MacKenzie said.

"So many people over the years have said, Oh, what does my one vote matter?" he said. "Now they're saying, my guy might win by one vote."

The north Pinellas precinct had one official poll observer, a volunteer named Teri from the Bush campaign who declined to give her last name.

She said she was checking that voters confirmed their addresses with poll workers, and that no one voted twice. Contrary to some media reports, she said she did not have a list of voters to challenge. In any case, she said she would only discuss concerns with poll workers, not directly with voters.

"Things are going smoothly. It looks like everything is going the way it should be," she said. Teri said she planned to observe the poll for about four or five hours, probably leaving about 5 p.m.

Jim Kirwan, a Palm Harbor resident, cast his vote at the precinct during his noon lunch break without waiting in line. Before going to work Tuesday morning, the 26-year-old physical therapist had waited in line about an hour at the Palm Harbor Fire House on West Lake Road before being told he was in the wrong precinct.

"It was frustrating, but it was my own fault," he said.

Kirwan said he voted for John Kerry, "for a bunch of reasons, including the war." He voted for Gore during the last election, he said.

During 2000, votes at this precinct were split almost evenly between Bush and Gore. Gore won the precinct with 590 votes, followed by Bush with 561 and Nader with 25 votes. Five votes were cast for other candidates.

-Angie Drobnic Holan/The Tampa Tribune

Patty McTague, a bookkeeper who lives near Bayshore Boulevard in Tampa, noticed several families in line to vote Tuesday morning. The children were eating breakfast. One family even brought along their barking Weimaraner.

After leaving three places with long lines earlier in the week, she and her husband, Neil, waited about 30 minutes to get into vote early Tuesday morning at Precinct No. 112 on Bayshore Boulevard. She knew the issues, however.

"Some are prepared and some are not,'' she says, adding it took her only seconds to cast her ballot.

Suzanne Kinman, mother of three, left Precinct No. 129 at Kate Jackson Community Center in Hyde Park three times before returning at 12:30 to find no lines.

"I had reviewed an early ballot,'' she said, so she knew how she would vote on the amendments.

"I was undecided for president until the moment I stood behind the screen - really," she said.

-Mary D. Scourtes/The Tampa Tribune

Don Rice hasn't lost his patience all day.

Few have given him reason to. Besides his frequent request to "Please, turn off the cell phone," the poll worker at Clearwater's Precinct No. 634 has smiled through his gray mustache at every voter passing through.

When Rice arrived at 6 a.m., an hour before polls opened, 15 people already were waiting in line. Wait times lasted up to an hour before lunchtime.

By midday, though, the lines calmed, and people waited no longer than 10 minutes.

"There's a lot of enthusiasm today," Rice said.

-Adam Emerson/The Tampa Tribune

Some voters were surprised to find no lines and little waiting at the small Thonotosassa Methodist Church on Lake Thonotosassa at about noon Tuesday.

"I timed it just right,'' said Catherine S. Mitseas, 38, a free-lance communications expert who had tried to vote in Plant City on Monday.

"On Monday [during early voting], the line stretched out around the block at the Plant City Library so I waited until today,'' she said.

There had been a long line at the one-room Thonotosassa church starting at 6 a.m. Tuesday.

Five voting machines were kept busy all morning but the turnout slowed at midday.

"Even so, I've seen more people voting here than I've ever seen in the nine years that I've lived here,'' Mitseas said.

-Walt Belcher/The Tampa Tribune

Residents of Town 'N Country learned the trick to avoiding long lines at polling places: go just before lunch.

At 7:30 a.m., voters waited more than an hour at Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church as the line stretched through the parking lot to Memorial Highway. By 11:30 a.m., the line barely reached the parking lot and the wait was trimmed to 25 minutes.

People mainly waited quietly. A few voters complained about getting sunburns. Several listened to music on earphones or killed time on cellular phones, some talking to friends or relatives about ballot initiatives they complained were confusing.

Dimitri Krinos, 43, summed up the feelings of many people in line.

"These ballot initiatives don't make any sense,'' said Krinos, a computer network engineer who grew more frustrated as he studied a sample ballot. "I'm college educated, but between the confusing language and all the propaganda, I can't understand this stuff.''

Nearly every voter within earshot either laughed or nodded in agreement.

Most said they had decided long ago which presidential candidate would get their vote, but admitted that they knew very little and had no strong feelings once they got a few races down the ballot.

John Kerry got Holly Bahnick to the polls. The 31-year-old manager of a technical support department said she missed the last election, and still feels burned by the result that gave George W. Bush the presidency.

"That wasn't going to happen again,'' she said.

Jessica Weiss, 23, supported Bush. But her main reason for going to the polls was to prove her parents wrong.

Her parents are dutiful voters who were deeply unnerved by Weiss' lax attitude toward voting. So it's easy to see why they became so appalled Sunday night when she sheepishly admitted she forgot to send in her absentee ballot. She promised to vote, but they didn't believe her.

"Please put this in the newspaper,'' she said waiting in line. "I told my parents I'd get an 'I voted' sticker, but they still didn't believe me. My parents will believe me if they see it in the newspaper.''

Inside the voting area, the fierce but friendly elderly women running the polling place kept the lines and operation running smoothly. The women remained kind - unless a cellular phone went off, as happened around noon.

"Ma'am, no cellular phones in the polling area,'' one of the poll workers barked at an elderly woman in a wheelchair. "Take it outside.''

People in line quietly chuckled, but didn't want to make too big of a fuss and draw the wrath away from the woman in the wheelchair.

-Baird Helgeson/The Tampa Tribune

In St. Petersburg, some voters had trouble getting to the polling site at the Police Athletic League headquarters for about 30 minutes - all because there was a crime suspect running loose in the neighborhood.

St. Petersburg police spokesman Bill Proffitt said officers had to shut down a stretch of 16th Street - on which the PAL building is located - as they searched for Craig Middleton, 19.

Middleton, accused of nearly beating someone to death last month, was reportedly in a car that had wrecked in a yard nearby at about 11 a.m., Proffitt said.

Sixteenth Street was closed for about a half hour as a K-9 officer tried to track Middleton's scent.

Proffitt said voters could still access the PAL building via 13th Avenue if they wanted to, and if they didn't want to wait for authorities to re-open 16th Street.

Middleton was never found.

-Stephen Thompson/The Tampa Tribune

At a polling site at the Heritage United Methodist Church in Clearwater, a man pulled out his wallet to produce his identification when a tiny bag of cocaine fell out.

By the time election workers figured out they might have evidence of a crime on their hands, they looked around and the man was gone, Pinellas Sheriff's authorities said.

They couldn't figure out who he was. And, of course, they don't know if he bothered voting.

A spokeswoman for the Supervisor of Elections could not be reached for comment.

-Stephen Thompson/The Tampa Tribune

WESLEY CHAPEL - Marilyn Smith came prepared for a long wait outside her polling place in the Meadow Pointe subdivision in Pasco County.

The red leather bag that typically holds marketing supplies for her job in Tampa was stuffed with magazines Tuesday morning.

"I told my husband, I don't care if I have to wait all day,'' the 37-year-old said. "As an African-American woman, I know how important it is to be right here in this line as long as it takes to make my voice heard.''

Smith and about 150 others waited in line outside the clubhouse on County Line Road to cast their votes. The mood was cheerful, despite the climbing temperatures. About an hour after she arrived, Smith took her turn in the voting booth.

"All I have to say is, I voted for John Kerry,'' she said. "And that's what I came to do.''

-Candace J. Samolinski/The Tampa Tribune

Voting was heavy and steady, but surprisingly quiet through mid-day in Hillsorough County's Precinct 810 in Valrico.

Poll workers said the wait was longer at the start of the day when the line stretched out the doors of St. Mark's United Church on Lithia-Pinecrest Road, across the parking lot and out to the road. One woman in line said her husband had arrived at 6:20 am, some 40 minutes before the polls opened. "He must have been one of the first in line, because he was finished by 7:10," she said.

Around 10 a.m., parking spaces were still in short supply and nearly 20 people were lined up outside. But there were some things missing: Not even one smiling, sign-waving, glad-handing campaign volunteer making one last attempt to influence voters as they arrived.

Inside the church, another 50 voters were lined up serpentine-style, just as they learned from their visits to Florida's many theme parks. It was a well-behaved, quiet crowd, even observing the signs that asked voters not to use their cell phones. There were no voting monitors in this heavily-Republican precinct.

The chatter was friendly and sprinkled with laughter among those waiting in line. Topics ranged from the celebrity phone calls they had all received (Bill Clinton and I are on a first-name basis." ... "Arnold called me twice." ... "I stopped answering the phone.") to their collective amazement at the turnout ("I have never seen lines like this before." ... "This is incredible." ... "I thought the wait would be shorter than this at 10 o'clock."

It took about an hour to vote.
- Duke Maas/The Tampa Tribune

The amendments were a popular conversation topic among voters in line at St. John Greek Orthodox Church on Swann Avenue.

"I don't know what to do," said one voter in regards to Amendment 3. "All my lawyer friends say 'vote no', but all my doctor friends say 'vote yes.'

-Clarisa Gerlach/TBO.com

In Hernando County at Precinct No. 52, one voter was waiting for his name to be cross-checked on the voter roll at the Weeki Wachee Area Club when a poll worker came inside with a handful of "VOTE HERE" signs.

When he jokingly asked if the election was over already, the worker responded that, "the county code enforcement officer was patrolling and told the poll deputies to take down the signs.

They were small signs and not obstructing motorists. But on this day of the year, the enforcer's proficiency level was at an all time high.

One poll worker said the code enforcement officer tried to throw the signs in the bed of his truck, until the poll worker snatched them from his hands and brought them back to the poll.

-Fred Bellet/The Tampa Tribune

Tom Newkirk waited an hour and a half to vote Tuesday morning at Coleman Middle in south Tampa.

When he drove his son Mark to vote Tuesday at 2 p.m., the wait was 5 minutes.

"I said, "Gosh, I wonder if the machines are broken,' '' he said.

They weren't.

After lunch time, the lines were far shorter at Coleman and nearby St. Mary's Episcopal Church.

-Josh Poltilove/The Tampa Tribune

Outside Precinct No. 659 in Temple Terrace, parking was at a premium near First United Church.

Like Matchbox cars scattered about a young boy's room, cars were left anywhere space could be had on the shoulder of busy Fowler Avenue and on neighboring residential streets.

By mid-morning, a serpentine line of as many as 200 voters wound its way toward the poll. Aside from the spots nearest the doorway, the most coveted places were those providing shade from an usually warm November sun.

"At least we don't vote in July,'' an optimist said.

"It's Florida,'' said a woman with less tolerance for the heat. "It doesn't matter.''

-Doug Stanley/The Tampa Tribune

Henk Uiterwyk, a lawyer who has lived in Davis Islands since 1956, said he has never seen this much political buzz on the islands.

"I'm sure you've seen it - conversations at the dinner table, and politics is all people talk about,'' he said.

Uiterwyk said lines at the Sandra W. Freedman Tennis Complex, 59 Columbia Drive, varied from about 35 minutes to nearly an hour and a half depending on the time of day.

He spent some of his day speaking against Amendment 3.

"Amazingly, we're able to hand out literature and people are actually reading it,'' he said.

-Josh Poltilove/The Tampa Tribune

Precincts in northwest Hillsborough still had lines lasting an hour to 90 minutes to vote by late morning. People seemed to accept the unusually large turnout in stride, reading and talking quietly to bide the time.

While there were signs planted in the ground at the edge of polling sites, there were no clusters of partisan activists carrying signs for candidates or trying to engage in any last-second campaigning.

At Town 'N Country's Precinct No. 405, the Calvary Community Church on George Road, 32-year-old Lance Hall was amazed at the turnout. Normally, he can walk up and vote without any wait, he said. He stood in line for 90 minutes Tuesday morning.

Hall, a financial analyst, said he voted for Kerry because of concerns over the outsourcing of jobs overseas.

"My calls get directed in from India,'' he said. "That scares me to think that my company can just throw my job to India at the flip of a switch.

Bobby Bourassa, 27, said a lot of his friends who don't normally vote intend to get out Tuesday. Most of them are motivated by the war in Iraq. "They think Bush messed things up,'' he said. "That's not necessarily my opinion.''

Bourassa, a musician and welder, said most of his friends are far more liberal than he is.

"I feel everyone is entitled to their opinion, as long as they don't get upset at somebody else for their opinion.''

At Precinct No. 223, West Hillsborough Baptist Church (at Habana) poll watcher Gary Dolgin, an attorney volunteering for Kerry, said he hadn't seen any GOP attorneys or heard of any challenges.

The only issue I've come across is people who are registered in a precinct but their names aren't on the log when they sign in. They seem to be getting provisional ballots.

-Michael Fechter/The Tampa Tribune

Voting at Precinct No. 705 on Lithia-Pinecrest Road in the Keysville area was much busier than usual in the morning hours.

Early voters waited about 90 minutes, but the wait was down to 30 minutes by 8:30 a.m. During the 2000 election, the voting took less than 10 minutes at 9 a.m. The precinct has four machines. There were no poll watchers present.

At Precinct No. 703 on Lithia-Pinecrest Road next to FishHawk, there was a 90-minute wait to vote at 9:15 a.m. Voting was running smooth. The precinct has five machines. Lines were much longer for early voters.

At Precinct No. 965 in Progress Village, the wait to vote was about an hour at about 9 a.m. The precinct has six machines. There were no obvious poll watchers present.

"It's been a very good morning. No problems,'' said Callie Edmond, there as part of a nonpartisan effort to assist voters.

At Precinct No. 968 in Clair-Mel City, which had 12 voting machines, poll watchers inside the precinct represented the Republican and the Democratic parties, said Katherine Hamilton of Election Protection, a nonpartisan group there to assist voters.

"We are here to make sure that everyone who has the right to vote can,'' Hamilton said.

Two provisional votes were cast at the precinct before 10 a.m. by people who recently moved to the area, she said. She vowed that Election Protection workers would follow those provisional votes through the process to assure they are counted.

"Voting took about an hour but it could have been smoother,'' said Dave Greif.

His wife, Fran, was upset about a Kerry backer handing out printed material in the precinct parking lot.

"A man wearing a white Kerry T-shirt and another man from the NAACP chased me down within the 50-foot barrier to give me this'' Kerry material, Fran Greif said.

Hamilton asked Fran Greif to help locate the men so they could be removed from the property, but they were unable to find them.

-Ray Dupuis/The Tampa Tribune

Ater he voted at Precinct No. 129 in Hyde Park, Frank R. North, director of corporate marketing communications for Ferman Automotive Management Services, said, "Hearing so many reports over the last several days of waits of two to three hours for those choosing to early vote, made me wonder why so many didn't wait to vote on Election Day - if possible. There is certainly a terrific feeling going to the poll on the day.''

Rachel Mattox, a mother and magazine writer, says she went early to the precinct, but lines were long so she returned around 10:10 a.m. and was home by 11 a.m.

"Officials were quite courteous; the waiting line was chatty; some people were reading. Most were greeting neighbors and friends and seeing babies and dogs.''

Her biggest surprise: "a pencil is now a stylus.''

Cindy Argerious, a mortgage lender who voted at Precinct 35 at the Good Shepard Lutheran Church on South Dale Mabry, said a few people in her line complained about the wait and heat.

"I reminded them that it is a privilege to vote and to experience history in the making,'' she said.

-Mary D. Scourtes/The Tampa Tribune

No lines at Precinct 149 in South Tampa about 8:55 a.m. this morning.

Poll workers said there were lines at 7 a.m. when they opened and that it's been smooth sailing this morning. Only a few people in there voting, no one appeared to have problems with the touch screen machines. One woman did have a lot of questions about the amendments. She began asking poll workers questions about if voting yes on one of the amendments meant she was for it or against it.

The poll workers quickly told her they are not able to answer those questions for her, but they had literature with explanations of the amendments if she'd like it. Then she continued to talk to poll workers telling them the language was confusing and asking for them to relay that message.
- Jennifer Straw/News Channel 8

At Precinct No. 341, at the Temple Crest Civic Association in east Tampa, poll worker Ronald Wells said more voters showed up Tuesday than he had seen in 20 years.

"Most of the time I just sit out here and read a book,'' he said. Today, he was very busy. At noon, 50 voters waited in line in the building, while another 15 waited to go inside.

Several poll watchers were in the room where people were voting. In the morning, one man complained that people were cutting the line in front of him. But that was quickly cleared up, Wells said.

Carol A. Hendry, a poll watcher from Tampa for the Kerry campaign, said a number of people said they received absentee ballots in the mail they didn't request. So when they brought the ballots in, poll workers had to check to make sure they had not already voted. That slows things down, since they have to call the election office, she said.

She said she knows of only one person who left because it took too much time.

At noon, Rebecca Jones, a poll watcher from Valrico for the Republicans, said the precinct was very orderly and that she had not had to challenge any voter.

Jones said she hasn't had to challenge anyone since poll workers were doing such a good job of making sure people had their credentials in order. She said she and the three Democratic poll watchers there are getting along very well.

"They have just been sweet, sweet, sweet,'' she said.

By noon, 586 voters had cast votes.

Representatives from the nonpartisan monitoring group Election Protection were there too to monitor the voting. An attorney for that group who didn't want to give her name said there were no problems so far.

-Phillip Morgan/The Tampa Tribune

Bruton Memorial Library was the early voting precinct in Plant City. For the past week, long lines have wrapped around the library's sidewalk.

On Tuesday, voters could walk right in - no lines, no waiting. There were more volunteers - approximately 30 - than some voters said they had ever seen at a voting site.

One slightly humorous incident caught some attention.

Voters at some machines were scolded for talking. Some feared their votes might have to be canceled, but they were allowed to stay. Ah, long ago are the days of drawn drapes to conceal voters.

- Rozel A. Lee/The Tampa Tribune

Elderly voters on walkers and canes and in wheelchairs and scooters helped stretch a line more than a 100 feet long at Rocky Creek Village retirement center in Town 'N Country.

The community's small recreation hall is the polling place for Precinct No. 423, which includes neighborhoods surrounding Rocky Creek. And that irked some residents.

"We live here. We ought to be able to vote first,'' one woman grumbled to another.

Otherwise, the mood was congenial as people waited in the sunshine about 9:30 a.m. It would be more than 1 1/2 hours before they'd walk out with their "I Voted'' sticker.

Mary Cook, 66, a Rocky Creek resident dressed in red, white and blue, sat patiently on her red scooter, a big water bottle at her side. She couldn't remember ever seeing a line so long in the 46 years she's been voting, but that was a good thing, she said.

"I'm encouraged to see so many people,'' she said. "Elected officials are the people's choice.''

Eventually, volunteers with Rocky Creek and the New York-based Election Protection, a nonpartisan voter protection organization, helped get disabled people into chairs on the shady porch near the rec hall door. There they waited until their portion of the line came into view. Then, a watching poll worker escorted them inside … just a few minutes early.

At Westgate Regional Library, meanwhile, the wait was much shorter. The library is the polling place for Town 'N Country proper, and served as one of the early voting centers.

In the days leading up to Election Day, voters waited hours to cast their ballots at Westgate. But early Tuesday the wait was only about 45 minutes; a little later it was down to 15 or 20 minutes.

- Penny Carnathan/The Tampa Tribune

Pam Gross, 51, of Town 'N Country, who's training to be a yoga instructor, was still undecided over who she was going to vote for after waiting more than an hour in line at Precinct 401, Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church on Memorial Highway in Tampa.

"I love Ralph Nader,"" she said. "I saw him in Lancaster, Pa., when I lived up there and it was such a thrill. He is a reasonable, sound, thinking person. He has true values.""

She was not sure whether she was going to vote for him, though. Her vote, she said, "is in God's hands."

- Linda Ross/The Tampa Tribune

Four people stood outside St. Francis Episcopal Church in Tampa's Seminole Heights as poll workers arrived at 6 a.m. Tuesday.

By 7:15 a.m., the line of voters snaked around the tiny concrete-block church on Nebraska Avenue.

For many in this working-class neighborhood, waiting to vote was a first.

Usually they could breeze right in, cast their ballot and leave. This time, most waited about 45 minutes before reaching a voting machine.

Charles Ausman couldn't get near the line.

"They caught me in the last election,'' said the 63-year-old convicted felon, who voted illegally in 2000. "Sent me a letter and said, "Don't do it again.'"

Ausman lost his right to vote in the early 1960s, when he says he was arrested for breaking into a school. He was 18 years old.

On Tuesday, he stood 50 feet from the church wearing a white T-shirt emblazoned with God Bless America.

In his right hand, he waved a glossy 8-by-10 of President George Bush.

"I think this man is the greatest thing since Ronald Reagan,'' Ausman gushed. "I wish his brother would run for president.''

He got the autographed picture after sending Bush a letter.

"I told him, "I liked your father and I think you're the greatest,'' Ausman recalled. "You're my second favorite president.''

Reagan is the first.

Several passing motorists honked their car horns. Another yelled an obscenity.

"You don't want to know what he said,'' Ausman joked. "I told him Kerry is scary.''

Ausman has voted during his lifetime in California, Ohio and Michigan.

"Everywhere I've ever lived, I could vote,'' Ausman said. "Florida needs to change their law.

"They can take anything they want away from me, but not the right to pick my president.''

-Sherri Ackerman/The Tampa Tribune

TAMPA - While the line of voters at the West Tampa Convention Center grew to nearly 200 during the lunch hour, it was out-of-staters who were getting the most attention at the West Columbus precinct.

Pamela Pullin, a Bush supporter from Arizona, came to Florida last week with four friends to rally Republican voters.

"This is the most important election of my life and it's going to be decided here in central Florida,'' Pullin said.

Standing next to Pullin was 27-year-old Kevin Keller, a Kerry supporter from Texas.

"We're all coming here from other states because our votes don't have as much weight there as yours do here,'' Keller said.

Even with Kerry and Bush supporters stumping side by side, the atmosphere among the campaigners was cordial.

"Everybody's got to get along because we've still got to live together tomorrow,'' Pullin said.

-Julie Pace/The Tampa Tribune

In rural Citrus County, precincts were set up with a poll worker for each letter of the alphabet to the point where there was little to no waiting time.

At 7:50 a.m., only a handful of residents were in the Citrus County Auditorium. In fact, the only notable event was a mother and an 18-year old daughter who was voting for the first time.

The 18-year-old's younger sister was taking pictures of the girl in line and stepping up to the booth.

-Michael Harris/The Tampa Tribune

Don Maddox, 61, said Social Security is one of his driving issues in this year's election.

"Being on the edge of receiving Social Security, I'm really concerned about whether it'll be here with all these deficits Bush is creating,'' Maddox said.

Revenge is another motivator for Maddox.

"I'm hoping today's the day the Democrats take revenge for 2000,'' Maddox said, accusing the Republicans of stealing that contentious race.

But despite his strong support for Kerry, Maddox said he wasn't too optimistic.

"I think the odds are in (Bush's) favor,'' Maddox said. "It's hard to get an incumbent out during a war.''

-Sean Ledig/The Tampa Tribune

Vivian Richards, 72, a retired mechanic and musician, said he was still undecided while standing in line outside St. Chad's Episcopal Church, 5609 N. Albany Ave.

"I'll decide when I get inside,'' Richards said.

However, Kevin Siebel, 30, a Pro-Copy employee, said he made up his mind who he would vote for president in 2000.

"Not Bush,'' Siebel said.

"All you gotta do is look at the newspaper,'' Siebel said, explaining why he doesn't like Bush. "He has the worst environmental record of any president. He got us into an illegal war.''

Siebel said he was also troubled by the number and the types of issues proposed for the state constitution.

"I don't like the idea of amending the constitution,'' Siebel said. "If the legislature wasn't so inept, we wouldn't have to vote on issues like pregnant pigs or the high-speed rail.

"Those things should be what the people in Tallahassee worry about, but they're too busy arguing among themselves,'' Siebel said.

-Sean Ledig/The Tampa Tribune

Tampa native and retired postal employee, Irma Tuzzolino, 67, said she was undecided until Tuesday morning.

Describing herself as a lifelong Democrat, Tuzzolino said she considered the strengths and weaknesses of both presidential candidates and their parties.

"Because of the war, I was leaning toward Bush,'' Tuzzolino said. "But because of outsourcing and unemployment, I liked Kerry.

"I was not going to vote, until I heard that Republicans were challenging (Native American) Indians at the polls,'' on CNN Tuesday morning, Tuzzolino said. "So I decided I was going to vote for Kerry. I'm opposed to challenging voters.''

Wanda Garries, 40, said she chose Kerry because "I hope he's going to do a better job than what's going on now.

"Too many jobs have been lost,'' Garries said.

On the proposed constitutional amendments, Garries said she's voting "yes'' on Amendments 5 and 6.

"I'm for raising the pay for everyone,'' Garries said. "And I'm for getting rid of the (high-speed) rail. We really don't need that.''

As a Native American, Garries said she was also concerned about the poll challengers Tuzzolino mentioned.

"I hope they try to challenge me at the polls,'' Garries said, defiantly.

-Sean Ledig/The Tampa Tribune

Outside St. Chad's Episcopal Church, 5609 N. Albany Ave., voters waited a half-hour or so late Tuesday morning for their chance to get in and vote.

Richard Thompson, a 52-year-old aircraft service employee, proudly summed up how he intended to vote in just one word - Bush.

"I just think he's the best man to have,