More than 500 people were lined up outside polling site Kawananakoa Middle School by 6 p.m. and dozens more were arriving by the minute.

Many of the voters in line were holding signs or wearing pins for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

Kellie Peterslon, 28, a first-time caucus goer, said its important for Hawai'i to show support for a native son.

"We need to overwhelmingly win it for Obama," she said.

Her friend, Armen Martirosian, 29, agreed. He had just finished up signing up for the Democratic Party. "He's from around here," he said.

Caucus officials said many people in line were signing up to join the party or even registering to vote. Patrick Stanley, site coordinator, said he is "cutting as many corners" as he can to be able to speed up the process and make sure voting happens on time. "We have a lot of new voters," he said. Stanley said the turnout looked to be at least double of previous years.

Many said this was their first time voting in the Democratic Caucuses.

Jack Campbell, a lifelong Democrat, said he never before felt compelled to vote in the caucus. The 73-year-old is rooting for Sen. Barack Obama.

"This is the first time we've got something new and different," he said.

Deloris Guttman, of Downtown, was also trying the caucus for the first time. "I think Hawai'i is going to count this year," she said. "Before, we didn't matter."

Dolores Biroan, a Sen. Hillary Clinton supporter, said she wanted to come out to make sure Clinton has a strong showing in the Islands.

Biroan, of Kaka'ako, said she liked Clinton's experience.

Officials at the polling site were still setting up about 5:30 p.m, and were crossing their fingers the voting was orderly and headache free.

But they said the turnout could overwhelm them.

Tonight's Hawai'i Democratic caucus is expected to draw a record number of voters, and party officials say those going to caucus sites may face long lines.

Hawai'i, which has never seen a caucus turnout of more than 5,000 Democrats, could see as many as 12,000 people for the presidential preference poll. Voters will also select delegates to the state convention in May.

Presidential candidates who receive at least 15 percent of the vote in the poll will be eligible for a share of 20 of the state's 29 delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August.

Voting is scheduled between 7 and 7:30 p.m. at a minimum but the party will accept ballots from people who are in line to register to vote, sign a party membership card or mark a ballot by 7:30 p.m. People must be registered voters and members of the Democratic Party to participate, but can register and sign up on caucus night. Party officials said that more than 1,200 people had joined the party in the weeks before Super Tuesday. But an additional 5,000 people have since signed up as the caucuses became relevant to the Democratic presidential nomination. See a list of caucus sites.