JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- People lined up to be among the first to vote at several early voting sites around Jacksonville Monday morning had an extra long wait and some left frustrated when machines at several locations refused to record the ballots.

"It was very shocking to have the very first ballot at 10 o'clock this morning not go into the machine," said state Rep. Audrey Gibson, who hoped to be first to vote at the Gateway location.

The Duval County elections office confirmed problems with voting machines at the Gateway Shopping Center and libraries on Edgewood Avenue, at Regency Square and Webb Wesconnett. Channel 4 heard from voters experiencing problems at other polling places, as well.

"I was frustrated with all the breakdowns of the machines," Westside voter John Lord said. "How long have they had to had this all fixed and ready to go and they knew it was an important election and that there would be a big turnout."

Voters were not the only ones frustrated. Duval County Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland said his staff had to replace optical scanners at four sites and they were investigating reports of problems at other sites.

"The reader said the ballot is too long. However, in looking at that, we measured that, there's not a problem," Duval County Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland said. "It doesn't stop the voters from voting, because we can put them in an emergency bin and then read them tonight when we close it, but obviously it's frustrating when we bought new equipment for this and we are having some problems that didn't show up at all during testing."

While voters could continue to cast ballots and put them in the emergency bin, they were uncomfortable not seeing their vote registered.

Demetria McWhite decided to come back later when the machines were working rather than trust election workers to feed her ballot into the machine after she was gone.

"I'm kind of nervous about it, you know -- that my vote won't go to the right person," said Annie Fingh.

Late Monday, election officials said a total of seven ballot scanning machines malfunctioned and had to be replaced. Ten more were ordered from the manufacturer as backups.

Lines on the first of 14 days of early voting were not unexpected. Election observers predict a record turnout -- perhaps 85 percent -- this year as voters will not only choose between the first African-American or the oldest man ever to run for president, but decide dozens of congressional, state legislative and local government races, along with several constitutional amendments.

Bernice Seget, who was first in line at the supervisor of elections office downtown Monday, said she waited about 35 minutes to cast her ballot.

Seget, 72, said she came early to "avoid the rush ... I knew the crowd is going to be heavy."

At the Webb Wesconnett library on 103rd Street, where people waited over an hour while election workers tried to fix the optical scanners, one woman commented: "I've never seen this many people in line -- even on Election Day -- since the 70s."

Early voting in other northeast Florida counties has gone smoothing, with hundreds voting in every county by midday and 2,900 voting in St. Johns County by 2 p.m.

Around the state, said the turnout for the first day of early voting was heavy and some lines, but no other counties reported the extent of malfunctions experience in Jacksonville.

"Lines are a sign of a healthy democracy, and certainly our democracy is healthy today," said Secretary of State Kurt Browning.

That heavy turnout combined with a large number of first-time voters and a ballot containing several races and constitutional amendments will result in lines of two hours or more on Nov. 4, election officials have urged people to take advantage of one of the two ways Florida law gives for voters to cast ballots before Election Day:

Absentee Voting: Registered voters do not need a reason to request an absentee ballot, and it can be done by mail up to Oct. 29 or in person at county elections offices through Election Day. Contact the supervisor of elections office for your county to learn more.

Early Voting:. From Oct. 20 through Nov. 1, in most counties and through Nov. 2 in Duval County, registered voters can go to any early voting site in their county, show a photo ID and cast a ballot. In large metro counties, people can vote when and where it's convenient.

Nationwide, about a third of the electorate is expected to vote early this year. That would be up from 22 percent in 2004 and 16 percent in 2000.

Early voting sites in northeast Florida counties:

Duval County

10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday and Sunday at the following locations:

• Supervisor of Elections, 105 E. Monroe Street
• Gateway Mall Branch Office, 5200 Norwood Ave.
• Argyle Library, 7973 Old Middleburg Road
• Beaches Regional Library, 600 3rd Street, Neptune Beach
• Bradham Brooks Northwest Library, 1755 Edgewood Ave.
• Highlands Regional Library, 1826 Dunn Ave.
• Mandarin Regional Library, 3330 Kori Road
• Murray Hill Library, 918 Edgewood Ave.
• Pablo Creek Library, 13295 Beach Blvd.
• Regency Square Regional Library, 9900 Regency Square Blvd.
• South Mandarin Regional Library, 12125 San Jose Blvd.
• Southeast Regional Library, 10599 Deerwood Park Blvd.
• University Park Library, 3435 University Blvd. N.
• Webb Wesconnett Regional Library, 6887 103rd Street
• West Regional Library, 1425 Chaffee Road S.

Clay County

Monday through Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the following locations:

• Elections Office, 1417 S. Orange Ave., Green Cove Springs
• Fleming Island Library, 1895 Town Center Blvd., Orange Park
• Tax Collector's Office, 1518 Park Ave., Orange Park
• Tax Collector's Office, 275 S. Lawrence Blvd., Keystone Heights
• Tax Collector's Office, 3245 Bear Run Blvd., Middleburg

Flagler County

Monday through Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the following locations:

• Elections Office, 1769 E. Highway 100, Bldg. 2 Suite 101, Bunnell
• Palm Coast Branch Library, 2500 Palm Coast Parkway
• Flagler Beach City Hall, 105 S. 2nd Street

Nassau County

Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the following locations:

• Fernandina Beach City Hall, 204 Ash Street
• Callahan Town Call, 542300 U.S. Highway 1
• Elections Office, Government Complex, 96135 Nassau Place, Yulee
• Hilliard Branch Library, 15821 County Road 108

St. Johns County

Monday through Saturday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the following locations:

• Elections Office, 4455 Avenue A, St. Augustine
• Julington Creek Courthouse Annex, 725 Flora Branch Blvd.
• Ponte Vedra Branch Library, 101 Library Blvd.
• Southeast Branch Library, 6670 U.S. 1 S., St. Augustine
• St. Augustine Beach City Hall, 2200 A1A South
• Hastings Town Hall, 6195 S. Main Street

Counties With Single Early-Voting Sites

• Baker County Elections Office, 32 N. 5th Street, Macclenny - Monday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Bradford County Elections Office, 945 N. Temple Ave., Starke - Monday through Saturday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Putnam County Elections Office, 107 N. 6th Street, Palatka - Monday through Saturday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Union County Elections Office, 55 W. Main Street, Lake Butler - Monday through Saturday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.