Democrats turned out early across the state today after enthusiasm generated by the presidential primary contest between Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama led to record voter registration.

A few minor glitches were reported at election polling places in Allegheny County this morning.

Mark Wolosik, director of the county elections bureau, said none of the reported problems have had a significant effect.

Because of the expected large turnout, election judges' difficulty getting machines started at a polling place in North Braddock and another in the city's Banksville section prompted some concern.

At these two sites, election judges, clerks and inspectors, all nominally paid volunteers, initially were unable to print out verification that the voting machines had been set at zero.

Nothing was wrong with the machines in either case, Mr. Wolosik said.

A technician was dispatched to each location and helped to properly set up the machines.

More than 30 people in Banksville and several more in North Braddock used emergency paper ballots to cast their votes.

Post-Gazette readers also reported problems at one or two polling stations this morning, including Graham Field and Beacon Hill in Wilkinsburg.

No details were available about those problems.

Balloting in Butler County was proceeding smoothly, with no major glitches or slowdowns at any of the county's 85 voting precincts, according to the county's elections bureau.

Though Elections Bureau Director Regis Young had predicted last week that turnout could reach record levels, turnout throughout the morning and early afternoon has been slower than the expected.

In Philadelphia, heavy turnouts and last minute campaigning were the rule. Juan Levy, a poll worker at Marian Anderson Recreation Center in South Philly, said 177 people had cast votes by noon. That was already two-thirds of an entire day's turnout for a normal election, and that was before after-work crunch, the heaviest time of the day, he noted.

Chelli Devadutt, 63, was also in the neighborhood making voters committed to Mr. Obama went to the polls.

"I moved to this country when I was 8, and Obama really gets the whole multicultural aspect of what it means to be an American," she said. "Here I am, an Indian woman working in a black neighborhood and I'm comfortable."

The primary is the first test of the candidates' strength in six weeks and will decide the allocation of 158 delegates to this summer's national nominating convention -- the largest bloc of delegates still up for grabs.

Statewide turnout would set a modern record for Democratic presidential primaries if more than 2.3 million of the 4.2 million registered party members show up at the polls.

The current record -- just under 55 percent -- was set in 1980, when Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy narrowly defeated then-President Carter in Pennsylvania.

Democratic enrollment began to soar earlier this year when it became apparent that neither candidate would clinch the nomination before Pennsylvania's primary, making it a factor in a presidential nomination for the first time in more than three decades. Voters must be registered Democrats to vote in the Clinton-Obama race. The Republican primary is also being held, but Sen. John McCain of Arizona is already the presumptive nominee.

Since last fall's election, largely due to the aggressive efforts of the two presidential campaigns, the number of Democrats increased by nearly 317,000 as of March 24, the deadline for switching or joining parties.

The Democratic presidential race is not the only one being decided today -- there are nomination contests for state treasurer, Congress and the state Legislature -- but it is unquestionably the biggest draw for voters.

Dave Price, 65, a Republican in Bellevue, cast a vote early today for Mr. McCain. But he said that's not necessarily the way he will go in the November general election.

"If Obama runs, I'll be very interested in taking a look," said Mr. Price, a retiree.

"The change theme gets me," Mr. Price said. "I'm a Republican but not a knee-jerk Republican."

The Associated Press contributed to this story. More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.