Although Jones will not tabulate any exit polls until the after voting ends today at 8 p.m., Jones did say that the early voters seemed to include more senior citizens. For the most part, very few of them seemed to have problems with the new electronic-voting machines, county officials said.

Despite the popularity of early voting, voters may still want to plan on lines today, especially if they are voting after 5 p.m. The state elections office and country clerks urge voters to get to the polls during the midday hours, when fewer people vote.

Polls are open today from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Any voter who is in line by 8 p.m., no matter how long the wait, will be allowed to vote.

The early voting added a twist to political campaigns, some of which took steps to reach voters before the first day of early voting. While no-excuse absentee voting has been permitted since 2002 and gave voters the option to cast their ballots before the traditional Election Day, it was not as heavily used as the early voting option.

Utah Republican Party Executive Director Jeff Hartley said some candidates timed their mailings for earlier than normal, and the party did some get-out-the-vote efforts for early voting with senior citizens. Still, the popularity of early voting was unexpected.

"The turnout in early voting was so positive this time, we will definitely be more aggressive in an early voting strategy in 2008," he said.

Todd Taylor, the executive director for the Utah Democratic Party, said even if candidates were not looking at early voting, the party did. It tried to encourage its members to vote early, especially those whose work schedules may hamper their ability to get to the polls today.

"We certainly encouraged people to vote early. It helps with the last-minute voting concerns, like long lines," he said.

Election Day

• Polls are open today from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

• To find out where you go to vote, call your county clerk's office.

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Contributing: Bob Bernick Jr.

E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com