State expected to break its record for voter turnout

There was nothing on the line in the presidential race in this bluest of blue states, but you wouldn't have known it from the people chanting and waving signs in Dorchester, crowding into voting booths in suburban Sherborn, or standing in hourlong lines in the South End.

Patient voters chatted on cellphones, read books, and tended to less patient children as they waited to participate in an election that many believed would be momentous, however predictable the results in Massachusetts. Election clerks reported extremely high turnout in Worcester, Georgetown, Salem, and other cities and towns. In Lawrence, the city clerk described the scene as a "madhouse."

Secretary of State William F. Galvin said the state was on track to see a record number of voters at the polls.

"I'm very optimistic we're going to have a record," he said last night, as numbers were being tallied. "You cannot underestimate how important the vote for president is to the average citizen. It's not about the Electoral College and all that insider stuff. It's about saying, 'I'm American and I made my decision.' "

Voter turnout was expected to surpass 3 million statewide, beating the 2004 record of 2.9 million although the percentage of participation was expected to fall short of the record set in 1928. In that race, 93.5 percent of registered voters statewide cast ballots in the race between Democrat Al Smith and Republican Herbert Hoover.

At a Boston University polling site on Cummington Street, where voter turnout is typically among the city's lowest, voters waited in line for 20 minutes or longer. The warm, cramped conditions inside did not deter.

"It's historic," said Rachel Derman, 19, who asked a police officer to snap a photo of her as she cast her ballot. She voted for Senator Barack Obama, the Democrat, saying she felt inspired by his once longshot bid.

"I wanted a picture of it," Derman said. "I wanted to be able to show it to my kids someday."

Massachusetts has not voted in favor of a Republican presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan was elected in 1984.

And despite the state's reliably liberal bent (neither major party candidate felt the need to campaign here), people said the election was one for the record books.

"This is a historic event no matter how you vote," said Annette Grant, 42, a "Hillary girl" who cast her ballot for Obama in Roxbury. "You have the chance to pick the first woman for vice president or a biracial candidate for president."

Sarah Palin's candidacy, however historic, was not enough to lift the spirits of many Massachusetts Republicans, even in the state's more conservative towns.

In Sherborn, an affluent suburb with a population of 4,500, registered Democrats and Republicans are nearly split. (There are 755 Democrats, 632 Republicans, and 1,608 unenrolled or independent voters.) Kathy Horigan, a small-business owner who said she was registered as an independent, carried a sign that said "Another Democrat for McCain" in front of Sherborn Town Hall.

"I think there's a lot of Republicans and even Democrats for [John] McCain, but they're afraid to say anything," she said. "Because at this point, it feels like it's almost uncool."

Pundits put Massachusetts in Obama's column long ago, a move affirmed in an October poll by Survey USA, which gave him a 17 percentage point lead in a survey of 658 likely Massachusetts voters.

State elections officials predicted voter turnout in Boston would surpass that of 2004, when nearly 209,000 ballots were cast. As of 6 p.m. yesterday, with two hours left to vote, 200,040 people had voted at city polls.

Enthusiasm was also high in Roxbury, where turnout at one ward was up 18 percent over 2004 as of 6 p.m.

Obama supporters Kim Janey of Roxbury and Fran Smith of Mattapan were all smiles outside the George A. Lewis Middle School gymnasium on Walnut Avenue yesterday evening as they prepared to leave. "Electing a black person in Boston . . . when racism is alive and well - it's pretty amazing," she said.

State election officials said they also received reports that lines at many polling places shortened as darkness set in.

Five people stood in line at Uphams Corner Health Center on Columbia Road an hour before the polls closed. Hundreds had lined the sidewalk there just hours earlier. Jackeline Flores, 25, a volunteer for the advocacy group MassVote, said she voted for Obama because she wanted to see him become the country's first black president.

"It's time for a change," she said, echoing his slogan.

Andrew Ryan, Donovan Slack, and Maria Cramer of the Globe staff and Globe correspondent Jeannie Nuss contributed to this report. Megan Woolhouse can be reached at mwoolhouse- @globe.com.