Students at Lincoln University faced very long lines to vote Tuesday.

(CNN) — Long lines were common in several battleground states on Election Day, but students at Pennsylvania's Lincoln University may have set a new standard for patience.

Hundreds of voters who registered at the last minute turned out to cast ballots at the college outside Philadelphia, forcing precinct officers to verify their eligibility with Chester County's election office, said Agnes O'Toole, assistant director of the county's Department of Voter Services.

The result was a nearly 11-hour wait in a chilly drizzle for voters like Jacintha Johnson, a senior at the historically African-American school. Johnson told CNN that she got in line at 7:30 a.m. and voted at 6 p.m.

"Practically the entire school was out there," she said. "It started to rain. Students were complaining about being hungry. The school provided some snacks, finally, at about 10 o'clock in the morning. Now, the line is pretty much the same."

O'Toole said registration drives delivered forms for about 700 of the nearly 2,800-plus voters registered at that precinct on the October 6 deadline for this year's elections — "So when the poll books were printed, they were not in the poll books."

Calls to O'Toole's office verified most of those in line were registered voters. Others were issued provisional ballots, she said. But the process slowed down the line.

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VELDA CITY, Missouri (CNN) — Pollworkers failed to set up about half the number of available machines at the city hall polling station, slowing the process to a crawl, said a county elections board representative. Seven hour waits were reported late afternoon. Elections officials said the polling location was so small that the 14 workers on-site decided it would be too cramped if they set up all the machines.

Three touchscreens and two optical scanners had been set up to accommodate about 1,200 registered voters, while 4 additional optical scanners remained unpacked. By 4pm, election board director Judge Joseph Goeke had identified the problem and ordered that workers set up the remaining idle units.

The county elections board representative told CNN that wait times are back down to 2 hours at the site, and that all voters in line will be allowed to cast their ballots.

Virginia voters at the polls in Alexandria.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — At least three cases of possible voter suppression at election sites around Virginia will be investigated by state police, according to Virginia election officials.

The cases were reported in the city of Richmond, Fairfax County and Fauquier County, according to Nancy Rodrigues, Virginia's executive secretary of the Board of Elections.

In once case she said the "over presentation of law enforcement" at one polling location was called in. In another case someone was playing a recording of right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh loud enough to violate the no campaigning within 300 feet of a voting location.

"We are working very closely with local and state police to investigate these allegations," Rodrigues said during a press conference in Richmond Tuesday.

A spokesperson for the election board said they could not say what the third incident was and could not comment further on the cases, only saying that investigations are underway on all three incidents.

(CNN) — A power outage briefly delayed voting in Akron, in the battleground state of Ohio Tuesday. Summit county Board of Elections director Marijean Donofrio says the power went out at two polling places, a school and a community center for about 20 minutes for an unknown reason. Donofrio says election officials were able to restore electricity using a generator. She says turnout in the county has been heavy but voters in line at the times the polls closed at 7:30pm would be eligible to vote.

(CNN) — With voters turning out in record numbers, voting rights advocates in Ohio say they have received thousands of reports of problems with provisional ballots across the state Tuesday. Voters in Columbus and Cleveland registered the most complaints. Pam Wilmot from Common Cause said provisional ballots could "play a significant role in the outcome of today's election."

Ohio relies heavily on provisional ballots which are issued to a voter for a myriad of reasons but the top three are the voter's name not appearing on the registration rolls, a voter showing up in the wrong precinct, or problems with the voter's form of identification.

Patrick Galloway, spokesman for the Ohio Secretary of State says his office has gotten complaints about the number of provisional ballots being issued. He says the Secretary of State's office has "provided direction to the (state's county election) boards to get the word to their provisional judges at polling locations on how to make sure votes are accurately cast."

Steve Hartsman, director of the Montgomery County Ohio Board of Elections which includes Dayton estimates that by time polls close, voters will have cast 12,000-18,000 provisional ballots in his county Tuesday. Hartsman says Montgomery county typically sees 10,000 provisional ballots cast, but he points to record high numbers of voters. Hartsman says more than 300,000 votes will be cast in Montgomery county. In 2004, 279,000 votes were cast.

Voter turnout is high in Cleveland as well. Kim Bartlett of the Cuyahoga Board of Elections says as of 6pm a random sampling of 44 precincts in her county shows that voter turnout is at 56.07%, which she characterizes as high.

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(CNN) — A judge ruled in favor of the New Hampshire State Republican party today in a lawsuit that alleged some GOP election observers were prevented from monitoring same day voter registrations. "We are not alleging any malfeasance today," said Fergus Cullen , Chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party. "The ability to observe some same day registration process was denied by individual polling stations." Cullen told CNN the judge ruled quickly in their favor.

Superior Court Judge Gillian Abramson ruled that poll observers should be situated in an area where they can "meaningfully see and hear each voter."

Matt Normand, Deputy City Clerk for Manchester, New Hampshire, pointed out there are privacy issues surrounding access to voter registration tables because sensitive material- such as social security numbers and driver's license could be compromised.

Voters line up to cast their ballots at Colin Powell Elementary School in Centreville, Virginia.(GETTY IMAGES)
WASHINGTON (CNN) – In the final hour of voting in Virginia the state continues to see record voter turnout and expects it to continue until the pools close at 7pm, state officials said Tuesday.

Up to 40 percent of Virginia's five million registered voters showed up to the polls Tuesday morning, breaking previous records and causing long voting lines, according to state election officials and CNN viewers.

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Robbins' name was missing from rolls.

NEW YORK (CNN) — When Academy Award-winning actor Tim Robbins showed up at his West 14th Street YMCA polling center in Manhattan to vote Tuesday morning, election officials told him that his name was missing from the register.

"I went to vote where I normally vote and I was not listed. I asked for an explanation; they had none," Robbins told CNN.

He said he has been voting in the same district since 1992. He has not missed one election, and has not changed addresses or political affiliations.

"The poll worker said my name was in the book for the primary two months ago, but missing for the general election," he told CNN.

Although Robbins was offered the opportunity to fill out a provisional ballot, he was set on using the voting machine instead.

"Refuse provisional ballots — they're throwing those out, they can throw those out," he told viewers of "Real Time With Bill Maher" last month.

"If that's your last resort, take it, but fight for your right to vote," he said. "It's your right as an American."

It took Robbins a total of five hours — and a judge's order — to do so today.

"I'm just waiting for an explanation. I want a real explanation, and I want that explanation for the hundreds and thousands of people in my district and throughout the city who are experiencing the same thing today," Robbins told CNN.

A New York City Board of Elections representative did not return CNN's calls.

Polling places nationwide have seen heavy turnout — and accompanying delays and glitches — for the presidential race between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama.

Michigan residents stand in line waiting to vote in the presidential election at the Coleman Young Community Center in Detroit.

(CNN) — Estimates on the longest voting lines in Detroit, Michigan were as high as 5 hours. Election Protection, a non-partisan voting watch dog group, reported a 5 hour, 1,000 person long line at Detroit's Beth Eden Baptist Church earlier on Election Day. They said it was largely due to understaffed polling stations. While state officials echo that lines were long, especially in the morning rush, they couldn't confirm voters waited 5 hours at this location. "We heard a report that 1000 people waited 5 hours but when we got there at 3:00 pm, there were 100 people inside, 100 people outside and they had waited two and a half hours," said Kelly Chesney, Spokeswoman for Michigan's Secretary of State. They expect lines to swell again as people get out of work and while most polls close statewide at 8pm ET, 4 of Michigan's western counties, Dickinson, Gogebic, Iron, and Menominee, are in the Central time zone and polls close there at 9pm ET (8pm CT). Voters still standing in line at 8pm will be allowed to cast their vote.

Updated 5:38 p.m.

Voters wait in line to cast their ballots at Lyles Crouch School on Election Day November 4, 2008 in Alexandria, Virginia.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Some 50 percent of the registered voters in Chesapeake, Virginia showed up to the polls early to vote Tuesday morning causing long wait times, according to a spokesman at the Virginia Board of Elections.

Officials do not believe there were technical problems causing the lines, however some voting locations in the area were experiencing problems with optical scanner voting as wet ballots did not scan properly. It rained in parts of Virginia election day.

At a press conference for reporters election board officials said the wet ballots would be collected and secured and once dry tabulated by officials in front of official observers.

Voting crowds have since thinned out and Virginia election officials are expecting more lines as people leave work and come to the polls to vote.

Reports of lines in the Virginia Beach region are also due to a heavy volume of voters. The region is one of the largest municipalities in the state and has seen consistent voter turnout Tuesday, officials said.

The lines had about a 30 minute wait at 4pm eastern Tuesday, and to make things move faster election officials at the voting locations split the paper voter logs among the staff to allow more voters to check in faster, according to Jessica Lane, a spokesman at the Virginia Board of Elections.

There are no reports of equipment malfunctions, Lane said. The Virginia Beach voter region uses touch-screen electronic voting machines.

Fake text messages were sent out on Election Day.

(CNN) — Voters in several states have receiving bogus text messages or e-mail urging supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama to put off voting until Wednesday because of long lines, spurring threats of prosecution in at least two states.

The messages — a perennial election stunt — popped up Tuesday on mobile phones and computers in the battleground states of Florida, Virginia and Missouri, as well as in several other states. One falsely claimed to be a "CNN breaking news" alert.

"All Obama voters, due to long delays, are asked to wait and vote tomorrow 11/05," that message stated.

Election Day is a one-day event, of course — and in a statement issued Tuesday, Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan said she had "no tolerance" for anyone attempting to confuse voters.

"I am working with local election officials around the state to make sure poll workers and voters understand their rights," said Carnahan, a Democrat.

"Anyone attempting to deprive voters of their rights on Election Day will be prosecuted."

In Maryland, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Douglas Gansler said his office had passed along complaints about the messages to the U.S. Justice Department and state prosecutors.

Similar messages were reported in Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Maryland and Arkansas.

In Virginia, hackers breached the computer network at George Mason University to send the message, university Provost Peter Stearns told students, faculty and staff in an e-mail denouncing the hoax.

"I am sure everybody realizes this is a hoax," he said. "It is also a serious offense, and we are looking into it. Please be reminded that Election Day is today, November 4th."

A flyer with a similar message was spread around the Hampton Roads area of southeast Virginia last week. Virginia State Police said Monday that they would not bring charges against the man who printed them, and state Board of Elections Secretary Nancy Rodriguez called the flyers "a joke that got out of control."

A long line of voters wait patiently outside their polling place to cast their ballots in St. Louis.

ST. LOUIS, Missouri (CNN) — Long lines at polling stations across the city are no surprise, said officials at the St. Louis County Board of Elections. Callers into the CNN Voting Hotline reported waits of 4 to 6 hours in the northern suburbs of Jennings and Velda City.

The county's board of elections assistant director Dick Bauer said a lengthy ballot and what he expects to be a record turnout have slowed the process. Voters can make as many as 37 selections on the ballot today, and 10 of them are issue choices, said Bauer.

Voters in line at two polling locations in the suburb of Jennings have been experiencing waits of 4 hours or more, according to U.S. Representative William Lacy Clay. The congressman said both Jennings City Hall and Fairview Elementary were understaffed to handle the crowds.

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A voter in Cincinnati sits while filling out his ballot because all of the official voting stations were full.

CINCINNATI, Ohio (CNN) — Some judges at polling precincts in Ohio were issuing provisional ballots in error because they were confused about whether state drivers' licenses with outdated addresses could be used as proof of identification, Hamilton County Board of Elections Director Sally Krisel confirmed Tuesday.

"They are nervous, so they have them vote by provisional ballot," Krisel said of the judges who were not aware of an Ohio law that mandates that drivers' licenses can be used as proof of identification and address, even if the address does not match the voter's current address.

Cuyahoga County Board of Elections Community Outreach coordinator Kim Bartlett says the same thing is occurring in her county.

"If I move, I'm not required to get a new drivers license with a new address, she explained Tuesday. "Licenses are good for four years, even if they don't have a valid address, its still considered valid proof of ID."

Both the Hamilton County and Cuyahoga County Board of Elections say they were engaged in outreach efforts throughout election day to explain the rules on provisional ballots to confused poll workers.

Ohio State University law professor said he had also heard some complaints about voters being forced to use the provisional ballot but it was too early to tell if this was a systematic, statewide problem.

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Voters checked in a Philadelphia polling place Tuesday.

(CNN) — A man wearing what appeared to be a black outfit with a beret and holding a nightstick was asked by police to leave a polling location in Philadelphia Tuesday, according to Philadelphia County Board of Elections Supervisor, Bill Rubin.

Rubin says the man left without incident. He says another man wearing similar attire had a poll watcher certificate and was allowed to remain at the polling site at 1221 Fairmont Avenue.

A video posted on Youtube, by electionjournal.org, shows two men standing several feet in front of the entrance to Guild House West, the polling location for the 4th Division of Ward 14 in Philadelphia. The cameraman in the video asks a man with a nightstick who he's with and the man responds, "I'm security." The cameraman later says "I think it might be a little bit intimidating that you have a stick in your hand."

Rubin says local election rules state a person cannot be within 10 to 15 feet of the entrance to a polling place unless that person is voting, is a poll worker, or has a poll watcher certificate.

Rubin says anyone practicing voter intimidation outside that 10 to 15 foot perimeter could pose a public safety issue and would be handled by the police.

Cathie Abookire, a spokewoman for the Philadelphia District Attorney's office, says the office is not investigating the matter, calling it a "non-incident." Abookire says, "We have had no complaints from any voters that they have been intimidated."

Voters were in line before sunrise at one North Carolina polling place Tuesday morning.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Rain in parts of North Carolina caused some early problems for voters using optical scanner ballots Tuesday, but a memo about using paper towels seemed to dry up the problem, according to North Carolina officials.

Voters were coming into voting locations early Tuesday morning and getting the paper ballots wet as they handled them, according to Gary Bartlett, Executive Director of the North Carolina Election Board.

"We sent out a memo to the county election boards asking them to hand out paper towels to voters before they were given a ballot," Bartlett said.

Bartlett was not sure how many calls his office received Tuesday, but he said it was very few before he recognized the potential problem and sent out the message.

The problem seemed to subside, Bartlett said, as he saw a drop in the number of calls reporting the wet ballot problem later in the morning.

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Some voters took advantage of early voting in New Mexico.

(CNN) — Officials in Dona Ana County, New Mexico say they are having problems with absentee ballots. But it's unclear just how many voters may not see their vote count.

Jess Williams, public information officer for the county, said of 11,985 absentee ballots requested, 8,141 have been processed. As of midday Tuesday, the number of outstanding absentee ballots is 3,844.

And the Bureau of Elections is still getting calls from residents who have not yet received their absentee ballots, Williams said. He said those voters may go to the polling place where they are registered to request a provisional ballot and they will be allowed to vote.

While that may be an option for some, many voters vote absentee because health problems keep them from going to the polls. Others are away at college, in the military, or out of town for other reasons, and showing up in person may not be possible.

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(CNN) KANSAS CITY, Missouri — Polling locations that had incorrect registration rolls in Kansas City's 5th Ward now have the right books, according to Laura Egerdal, Communications Director for Missouri's Secretary of State's Office. She said the county dispatched additional pollworkers to help with the backlog of voters and long lines.

When judges for six precincts in the fifth ward opened the first set of books this morning, they discovered that the cover jackets did not match the registration rolls, said Board of Elections director Shelley McThomas. The covers — indicating ward, precinct and sequence numbers — were mixed up when the books were originally assembled.

"They looked like the right books, but when the judges opened them this morning they discovered, no, these pages aren't the right pages", McThomas said. New books were printed on-site at the Board of Elections after the problem was discovered, and were delivered by deputies to anxious judges and voters in the fifth ward.

Former Virginia Gov. and Senate candidate Mark Warner greets an elderly voter at a polling place in Alexandria, VA Tuesday.

(CNN) — In response to a complaint to the CNN Voter Hotline, the Virginia Board of Elections is directing polling stations to assist elderly and disabled voters, according to the board's Mike Litterst. He said Virginia Secretary of State Nancy Rodriguez has sent an email to state registrars that the stations are obligated to assist those individuals.

Chesapeake is reporting few technical problems in any of its 53 voting sites, a Chesapeake City support technician told CNN. He said the voting machines are user friendly, even for the elderly and disabled, and poll workers are certified to adjust any machine to assist voters.

The state election board spokesman said in the event the machines are down, paper ballots would be offered. Litterst could not confirm the caller's claims that there was no one to help the elderly and disabled but said measures have been taken to ensure that those voters are being treated fairly.

Kansas City, Mo. (CNN) — At least three polling locations in Kansas City's 5th Ward have the wrong registration books, said Board of Elections director Shelley McThomas. She said cover jackets indicating ward, precinct and sequence numbers were mixed up when the books were assembled at the Board of Elections.

Deputies deliver the books in pairs, and McThomas said elections officials think the problems are limited to 6 registration rolls for 3 polling locations within Ward 5.

"They looked like the right books, but when the judges opened them this morning they discovered, no, these pages aren't the right pages", McThomas said.

Kansas City election officials have sent teams to investigate. McThomas confirmed CNN voter hotline caller Elizabeth Wakowski's report that one of the affected polling locations is at the Immanuel Lutheran Church at 1700 Westport Rd.

McThomas said she's waiting to hear back from deputies in the field whether the problems have been resolved.

Some Philadelphia voters will have to use emergency ballots due to broken machines.

(CNN) - Philadelphia has experienced problems with voting machines not working in eight of 1,681 election divisions throughout the city, according to Bill Rubin, Supervisor of the Philadelphia County Board of Elections.

Rubin reported none of these problems have been serious, and where machines have gone down, voters have been allowed to vote on emergency ballots.

He says these emergency ballots are the same forms as provisional ballots, but are marked with an "EB" to indicate they are emergency ballots, and they will be counted just as if they were votes recorded on a machine. In contrast, provisional ballots are given to those voters whose registrations cannot be confirmed in the poll book, or who have gone to the wrong voting division.

Rubin said some of the problems with voting machines may be a result of poll workers forgetting their training. He says in some cases poll workers received training some time ago, and may have forgotten parts of it by election day, leading them to start the voting machines incorrectly.