WASHINGTON - Election day isn't until next week, but District voters people are already waiting in long lines to make their choices.

One reason, the history of election problems in the District.

During February's presidential primary, the Board of Elections and Ethics ran out of ballots. In September's city primary, thousands of phantom write-in votes showed up on the electronic voting machines. Then they disappeared. The problem was blamed on static electricity, but it did not inspire confidence.

So the BOEE held a confidence-inspiring news conference on Thursday with a simple message:

"We are prepared for the election," said Errol Arthur, the BOEE Chairman. "Let me just say that again: We are prepared."

D.C. doesn't technically have early voting. But the city does allow people to come down and cast an absentee ballot in person if they have an excuse.

By Thursday morning, 7,000 people had lined up to cast absentee ballots, and the line stretched on and on for most of the day.

Many of those lining up Thursday said they were election volunteers who planned to be on the road next Tuesday.

"I'm gonna be out in Virginia all day," said one man.

"I'm going to Pennsylvania to help support Barack Obama (web|news|bio)," added another.

"I'm going to be in Ohio ... supporting Obama," said a third man, who described the absentee-in-person voting process in the District as "incredibly easy."

"We want people to come out and vote," said Arthur. "It is our job to ensure that the voting experience is as positive as possible. "

In hopes of making things run smoothly, the BoEE is training nearly twice the number of poll workers than during the last presidential election.

The board also announced that results in the city's most closely-watched race, the At-Large Council seat, might take days.

Council member Carol Schwartz, who was defeated in the September Republican primary, is running as a write-in candidate. The board says it must count write-in votes by hand, starting on Nov. 5.

That means it may be days before we know who the winner of that race is.