Voters were packing the booths at Kailua Intermediate School this morning. Bruce Asato/The Honolulu Advertiser

"All polling places are stablized," said state Elections Office spokesman Rex Quidilla.

Voter turnout by 10:30 a.m. averged 12 percent statewide, but Quidilla cautioned that the numbers are a very early picture of voter activity.

Honolulu reported 16 percent turnout. Both Hawai'i and Kaua'i counties reported 12 percent turnout. And Maui county reported 9 percent turnout.

"It gives us kind of a clue of where the activity is and whether it is high or low," he said. "There is a whole day ahead and these turnout percentages don't include those who voted via walk-in and via mail-in ballots. It is a rough cut of polling places."

Morning problems included five Honolulu poll locations where problems surfaced with the machines that read the ballots.

All were replaced as quickly as possible and officials will determine after the election what caused the problems, Quidilla said.

Precinct leaders also failed to show up at two locations — Kalihi Valley District Park and Halawa District Park.

"We had a real issue at Kalihi Valley because the chairperson and the second in command did not show up," Quidilla said. "We had to re-direct staff from other polling places."

A worker at Halawa got a battlefield promotion.

"We basically trained up someone on the spot to do the job," he said.

Quidilla called the morning a normal election day.

"These are the kind of logistical challenges and manpower issues we normally experience," he said. "And a lot of that gets solved in the morning and then we prepare for the rush in the afternoon. A lot of people wait until the end of the day. What we always anticipate are lines at the end of the day."