Precinct official Gwen Nishimura (left) helps Josefina Coronado (right) with directions on how to cast her ballot at the Kapalama Elementary School during the primary election today. ANDREW SHIMABUKU | The Honolulu Advertiser

Unofficial estimates put voter turnout by 10 a.m. at about 12 percent of the registered voters, said Rex Quidilla, a spokesman for the Hawai'i Office of Elections.

"That's about the same as we had in the 2004 primary elections," Quidilla said.

Quidilla said "a handful" of polling places did not open as scheduled at 7 a.m. because of staffing shortages. Honolulu election officials had noted before the election that they still needed to find some 900 polling places workers to fully staff all precincts.

When a number of supervisors did not report to the polling places at promised early in the morning, "the situation quickly went from OK to critical," Quidilla said.

Election officials used cellular telephones to talk other workers through poll start-up procedures, and by 8 a.m all of polling places were open and running smoothly.

The election office also experienced a "routine" number of problems with election equipment. About eight optical ballot readers throughout the state malfunctioned in the morning and had to be replaced.