Kevin Nesko, a Republican precinct captain, was pessimistic Tuesday about his party`s chances but pleased his polling station in the critical state of Virginia was `busy, busy, busy, busy.`

`Very busy,` he added, estimating that some 800 voters waited patiently in line at peak time, around 8:00 am (1300 GMT), to cast their ballots in the historic race for the White House between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama.

Early turnout in other states -- from Democratic strongholds to Republican bastions -- was also reported to be heavy as voters had their say at the end of the longest and most expensive presidential race in US history.

At Nesko`s Nottoway precinct, 1,142 of more than 4,000 registered voters had voted by 10:00 am, in addition to the 25 percent who already voted absentee.

`For this number of people to have turned out at this time of day is phenomenal,` said Nesko, a Republican poll watcher. `It`s a blowout.

`We may not like the outcome, but we love the fact that everyone is here voting,` he said.

Obama, the 47-year-old senator from Illinois bidding to become America`s first African-American president, leads in the final opinion polls going into the race including in traditionally Republican Virginia.

While turnout appeared to be large, voting was moving smoothly as people used paper ballots or touch screens to tick off their choices for president, Senate, the House of Representatives, local judges and ballot initiatives.

In Lake Worth, Florida, the southern state considered crucial to the hopes of both Obama and McCain, residents expecting long lines to vote were pleasantly surprised when they were in and out in about 30 minutes.

Jenna Sokolobsky, 24, of Boynton Beach, said she voted for McCain. `My brother has served four times in Iraq and I like his stance on protecting our country,` she said.

Laura Burke, 46, of Lake Worth, went for Obama. `There was no way in hell I would put Sarah Palin in the presidency. The running mates is what it came down to for me,` she said.

Early turnout was high at Lafayette Elementary School in the Washington suburb of Chevy Chase, an affluent, strongly Democratic neighborhood of lawyers, lobbyists, government employees and educators.

`I`ve never seen it like this,` said Alice Hayes, a hospital administrator. `I hope to see a change in this country,` Hayes said, echoing Obama`s campaign theme.

At Rock Creek Forest Elementary School in Chevy Chase, voters said turnout appeared to be five to six times higher than in past presidential elections.

Maureen Gately, 47, who works for a publishing company, left little doubt about who she`s voting for.

`If McCain wins, Canada will start to look very nice!` she said.

At a polling station in downtown Washington, a line stretched around the block as black, white, Latino and Asian voters, some carrying young children, waited patiently to cast their ballots.

The crowd looked on quietly as an African-American man dressed as Uncle Sam was handcuffed and taken away in a police car. Police told AFP the man had been selling American flags without a vendor`s license.

Alnett Wooten, 86, carried an American flag with her to the polls.

`I never thought I would live long enough to do it,` she said of voting for a black president. `I just pray that He will keep him safe.`

In Decatur, Georgia, at the Avondale Middle School, Karla Stumpo, 35, an accountant with the Cartoon Network in Atlanta, said she voted for McCain though she`s `not really happy with either candidate.`

`It`s the lesser of two evils,` she said of her vote for the 72-year-old senator from Arizona.

Voters also thronged the polls early in Blacksburg, a Democratic stronghold in southwest Virginia, in a bid to cast their ballots before going to work.

Elaine Daily, a 55-year-old reading teacher, said she voted for Obama. `I feel he can do something to help restore the economy and end the war. I think he is the one who will help bring change,` she said.

Another voter, Norma Jean Lundis, said she went for McCain.

`McCain stands for what I believe in -- less government, lets me control my money, the right to bear arms, life begins at conception, marriage between man and woman,` she said. `He`s a true American hero.`

At a polling station on Wall Street in New York some 100 people stood in a slow-moving line as heavily-armed police guarded the New York Stock Exchange.

Rita Molton, who works as a corporate nurse in the financial district, said she voted for McCain.

`There`s just something about him I trust,` she said. `You have to go with your gut feeling. He`s a hero and I think we should give him the chance -- this is his last mission.`