With only 58 of 100 counties reporting, 31.5 percent of voters turned out to vote, according to state election board figures.

The last time the numbers were this high during a primary was in 1988 when 31 percent voted.

Democratic turnout should hit 45 percent or more, said Gary Bartlett, executive director of the state Board of Elections. Republican turnout is likely to be in the range of 20 percent or so, he said.

One benchmark to watch was the one set in the spring primary in 1988 — the last big presidential primary in North Carolina — when 953,759 ballots were cast, or 31 percent of registered voters. At 9 p.m., the state board reported 16.79 percent of registered voters had cast ballots, but it only had complete reports from three of 100 counties.

Few problems were reported.

— A few polling places stayed open until 8:30 p.m. At one precinct in Pamlico County, a local chief elections judge failed to show up with the registration lists and other necessary information. A polling place in Cherokee County was closed for 30 minutes in response to a bomb threat.

— Usual glitches occurred with infrequent voters going to the wrong polling places and some standing in long lines as the polls closed. Some Republicans also wanted to vote in the Democratic primary though state law prevents it.

"I don't know if it will reach 50 percent," Bartlett said late this afternoon. "It's too early to tell. We'll see what happens in the last three hours."

Republican turnout is likely to be in the range of 20 percent or so, he said.

In recent years, primary turnout has ranged from 16 percent to 31 percent, Bartlett said.

Polls remain open until 7:30 p.m. Anyone in line then will be allowed to vote.

"I've never seen it this busy," said Cynthia Brown, who was campaigning at the VFW Post in Durham for county commissioner candidate Brenda Howerton.

Precinct worker Michael Gray said many voters there were casting provisional ballots because their registration information appeared to be incorrect.

"What's usually happened, they've moved and didn't update" [their information], said Durham County assistant elections director Michael Perry.

Some voters showed up at the Durham elections board, thinking incorrectly they could cast ballots there. They were directed to their home precincts.

"It's a good day," said Lee Thomas, chief election judge at Binkley Baptist Church in Chapel Hill. "A good, spirited electorate. Everyone seems to be glad to be here."

Thomas said the precinct's voters had cast 295 early ballots, and, counting those, by 3 p.m. the total was up to 480. Binkley's total registration is 2,137. Typically, he said, there is a rush of voters toward the end of the day.

"Our one real concession to the crowd we may or may not get is, we've hired one special worker," Thomas said. That staffer will take a place at the end of the line at 7:30 p.m., when the polls officially close. Everyone in line at that point gets to vote, but later arrivals are out of luck.

Page Vernon, a candidate for district court judge in Orange and Chatham counties, was enjoying the midafternoon shade of a tree outside the church. She said she had been visiting other precincts earlier in the day.

"It's been so exciting with the early voting," she said, referring to the 17,290 ballots cast in Orange County prior to election day Tuesday. "It's really wonderful to be on the ballot with all these great folks."

Republican Julia Lapeza, 59, voted at Carrington Middle School in Durham but said she did not like the presumptive GOP nominee John McCain. "I wish we could vote for the person, not the party," she said.

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