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Long lines formed at precincts across the Carolinas as the polls opened early Tuesday, and early reports indicated heavy turnout.

One report at a Columbia precinct had about double the amount of people in line compared with four years ago. The parking lot at Dent Middle School was crowded and some 200 people were waiting in line when the polls opened at 7 a.m.

"It's not normal," said 75-year-old Timothy Evans Sr., a longtime poll worker. "Four years ago we had a little over 100 voters. It's really almost double that amount."

Poll manager Diane English, who has worked at Dent Middle for 12 years agreed. When she arrived at 5:50 a.m., people already were standing in line.

Weather on the Grand Strand and across the state will not offer an excuse for laggard voters. What is expected to be one of the biggest turnouts ever will be greeted locally by unseasonably warm temperatures and only a slight chance of showers.

The National Weather Service is predicting a high of 84 degrees and a mostly sunny day with a 10 percent chance of precipitation.

The balmy weather should help coax out the record numbers of people who registered to vote, and elections officials from Horry and Georgetown counties were bracing to handle large crowds.

"If the absentee process is any indication, it's going to be a heavy turnout," said Hannah Majewski, public information officer for the State Election Commission.

She said 143,000 absentee ballots were requested statewide, compared with 110,000 two years ago.

County figures show similar increases. Bailey said Georgetown County saw a record of about 2,800 absentee requests.

In Horry County, absentee vote requests topped 8,000, said county spokeswoman Lisa Bourcier.

Figures were not available for Brunswick County, N.C.

Because of the expected turnout, officials have some cautions for voters.

"In this election, there's going to be such a big turnout that there may be people waiting at the polls when they close," said Georgetown County Election Commission Chairman Herb Bailey.

Those in line when the polls close - at 7 p.m. in South Carolina and 7:30 p.m. in North Carolina - must be allowed to vote, no matter how long it takes.

But they agreed firmly on one point: George W. Bush should be president for four more years.

The 39-year-old couple, steadfast Republicans who live in the Wake County community of Swift Creek, made their choice long ago - "as soon as we saw all the Democratic contenders," Steve Harris said.

They were part of a crowd of voters waiting when the doors opened at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday at Swift Creek Community Center. The line snaked out from the small, cinderblock building, across a gravel parking lot and along the street, where cars and trucks lined the shoulder of the road.

The wait ranged from an hour to an hour and a half in the morning, but still wasn't enough time for Melissa Smith to decide between Bush and Democratic contender John Kerry.

"Truly, I made the decision when I sat down" to fill out the ballot, she said.

Smith, 40, wouldn't say whom she chose, but admitted she wasn't entirely happy either way.

Indecisive voters across North Carolina got a little extra time to make up their minds, as similar crowds formed at polling places statewide.

"What has been reported to me - and I've heard from coastal counties, mountain and Piedmont - is that lines are heavy everywhere," Gary Bartlett, executive director of the State Board of Elections, said a little before 10 a.m.

"I think if things continue as we have heard them, we may surpass our 1984 mark of 68 percent" turnout of registered voters, he said.

Bartlett said elections officials expect more than 2 million people to vote Tuesday. He said 984,374 people took advantage of "one-stop" absentee voting in the two weeks leading up to the election, and officials expect the total of absentee ballots, including those that are mailed in, to reach about 1.1 million.

Sandy Martin, director of the Registration and Elections department in Horry County, said long lines could force poll managers to enforce the 3-minute limit for voting.

"The voters should prepare themselves ahead of time, and know who they're going to vote for," she said.