As early as 5:15 a.m. Tuesday, CT voters were lined up to cast their ballots.
Voters in some polling places were waiting up to 40 minutes to vote. The line was growing before the sun came up at the Kennelly School in Hartford.
Secretary of the State, Susan Bysiewicz is anticipating voter turnout today to be as high as 90 percent. She said our state is ready for Election Day, even though most people will be using the optical scan voting machines for the first time.
Some polling stations in West Hartford, Simsbury, Avon and Fairfield reported problems Tuesday morning with the new optical voting machines.
This is also the first time many CT residents will be voting. More than 300,000 people have registered to vote in CT since January -- including 134,000 in October alone.
Bysiewicz said these record numbers prompted her to take several precautions, including beefing up staff at all polling places.
An additional 250 poll workers were trained for Election Day and will be deployed all over the state to help. Hartford will get about 100 of those poll workers.
In an effort to ensure that everyone registered is afforded the opportunity to vote Bysiewicz says it's important to have the proper identification.
Specifically, voters need a photo ID with name and address, a current utility bill, bank statement, pay check or government document with name and address.
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To avoid long lines, Bysiewicz is encouraging people to vote during off-peak hours -- between 10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
If you run into any problems at the polls, the state has set up a website where you can report them. Click here to report your problem. You can also call an emergency line to report voter fraud or voter rights issues. That number is (866) 733-2463. You can also email those problems to mailto:newstips@nbc30.com?subject=Problems%20at%20the%20polls.
