Washington - In the District today, many of those who hadn't already voted early still voted early, lining up outside precincts well before the polls opened. Even thirty minutes ahead of opening, the lines snaked down walkways and wound around onto sidewalks.

D.C. voter Jenn Perry noted of her wait, "It was fine. It was not that long. It moved very quickly and everything was very well organized."

With a surge in registered voters in the District as there has been elsewhere, D.C. officials are bracing themselves for an historic onslaught of voters. The city has now just under half a million registered voters in a place with an official population just shy of 600,000. If high absentee voting is any indication, turnout today will make the record books.

Ballot shortfalls and phantom votes due to voting machine problems during the primary races several months ago have some concerned about today's voting, but the D.C. Board of Elections says they are quite confident they have worked out the bugs in the process.

Two at-large seats on the D.C. council are on the ballot today. Democrat Kwame Brown is considered likely to hold onto his seat, but six others are vying for the second seat, five on the ballot plus write-in candidate Republican Councilmember Carol Schwartz, who lost her primary race last fall to Patrick Mara.

Midterm Mayor Adrian Fenty is keeping a particularly close eye on those council races to see how his base of support there may shift as a result of this election.

As Hall Kesmodel, another District voter, pointed out, "It's an historic election, there's no question. I think everyone in the world... knows about the election and is excited about the election, and wants to vote." And Megan Jerch added, "I felt like I wouldn't be able to look at my friends and family in the face if I didn't come out and vote!" And voter Erika Schnure said, "I'm definitely hoping we can get this country in the right direction."

We'd like to hear about your voting experience. Click here  to head to the ABC 7 talkback page and tell us what your experience was like today. We'll read your comments on ABC 7 at 5pm.