JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Voters arriving early at some Duval County precincts ran into a shortage of paper ballots in Florida's 2006 midterm primaries, but the problem was not a large turnout at the polls.

Voters at precincts with ballot shortages were offered the opportunity to use touch-screen machines, but some declined.

The Duval County Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland asked the governor to extend the voting hours at the precincts involved, but the request was declined because the incident happened early enough in the day that the hours did not need to be extended.

All polling places were to close at 7 p.m.

"In four precincts, we ran out of a particular party's ballot. So, there was a period of time where everyone had the opportunity at three of the precincts to vote on the touch screen, but one of the precincts, because the touch screen was down, actually had about a two-hour gap waiting for ballots to come in," Holland said.

At St. Paul's AME Church on New Kings Road -- a predominately Democratic precinct -- poll workers told the local station's Emily Pantelides that they were sent too many Republican ballots and not enough Democratic. Before noon, more ballots were delivered to the precinct and voting resumed.

"No trouble, except that the ballots were not here when I came the first time," voter Carl Hughes said, who came back to vote.

Democratic Party officials reported similar problems with paper ballot shortages in voting districts 10J, 7G, 8L, and 9D.

"Voters ... at any precinct where a ballot style was running out will be able to go back to their respective precinct or to the main office of the Supervisor of Elections at 105 E. Monroe St.," the Duval County Elections Office said in a news release that arrived at Channel 4 at 2:44 p.m.

Holland urged voters who did not want to vote on the touch screen while the ballots were unavailable to return to their polling places, saying, "Come back. If the polls close at 7 p.m. and you're still in line, we'll keep it open as long as you're in line until the last voter votes."

The governor's race was the main attraction, with Gov. Jeb Bush stepping down due to term limits. On the Republican side, Attorney General Charlie Crist held a large lead in the polls over Tom Gallagher in the final week, while the Democratic race between U.S. Rep. Jim Davis and state Sen. Rod Smith tightened in the final days.

Also on the ballot for Republicans were four challengers to Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson. The choice was either U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris or three political unknowns who jumped in the race at the last minute after Republican leadership failed to recruit a high-profile challenger to face Harris.

In northeast Florida races, Randall Terry's challenge to state Sen. Jim King and several judicial races drew the most attention, although legislative, county commission and school board races are on the ballot in many counties.

Dvual County's Supervisor of Elections office estimated that 15 to 20 percent of registered voters would cast ballots Tuesday.

Secretary of State Sue Cobb said turnout for early voting was light across much of the state and she doesn't anticipate a big rush to polling places Tuesday.

Morning turnout in Jacksonville was light, but election workers said more voters are expected during the lunch hour and after work.

Cobb said a review of voter turnout over the past 50 years shows a downward trend in the number of people casting ballots in primary elections.

College student Kip Taft, 19, was also among those who arrived early to cast their ballot in Seminole County.

"It's my first election. My parents told me to vote but not who to vote for," he said, adding, "I'm only voting for governor because I don't know anything about the other races."

Bush refused to endorse either Gallagher or Crist, both of whom have said they would continue many of his education and economic policies. Democrats Davis and Smith said they want changes in how standardized testing is used and that tax breaks for few shouldn't be handed out when there are still education and health care needs to be met.

Voters also decided a handful of other congressional primaries and legislative races, including replacements for both Harris' and Davis' seats.