Neighbor Island voters helped secure Sen. Barack Obama's landslide victory in the Hawai'i Democratic caucuses last night.

On Maui, Obama had 3,028 votes to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's 962, with Lana'i reporting 114 votes for the senator from Illinois and 31 for Clinton. Moloka'i results were not available.

A sampling of Big Island caucuses showed Obama winning 604-185 over Clinton at Hilo High School, scene of the District 2 caucus. Obama also easily carried District 4 in Puna, 746-273.

The vote at Koloa Public Library on Kaua'i was 165 for Obama and 42 for Clinton.

Longtime Maui Democratic official Stephanie Ohigashi, who backs Clinton, said the bigger picture may be the many new members the party signed up.

"There's such an infusion of new members. It's exciting," she said. "This will take us all the way to the White House."

A turnout of more than 1,200 at Baldwin High in Wailuku caused chaos and confusion among voters and volunteers alike. Caucus officials ran out of registration forms at 6:15 p.m. and at any given time there were more than 200 people standing in line to sign up.

The caucus was to have been held in the school cafeteria, which has a maximum occupancy of 221. The crush of voters prompted caucus organizers to convene some of the precinct voting outdoors.

"We were expecting a record turnout, but this exceeded our wildest expectations," said District 8 chairman David Raatz. He said past Democratic caucuses had attracted only "a few dozen."

"It's was so hard to predict. We've never played an important role in the nomination process before."

FIRST-TIME EXPERIENCE

Many of the participants were first-timers and some, like Joseph Almendarez, weren't even registered to vote until yesterday.

The 45-year-old hotel worker and sales representative said he hadn't voted in an election since 1992, but is excited that the country appears to be heading in a new direction.

Almendarez said he voted for Obama because of his stance against the Iraq war. "He can get us back on track to what this country is really about. I don't think we are about invading other countries, are we?" he said.

Wailuku resident Sarajean Tokunaga, 67, has been active in Democratic politics for 20 years and has never seen so much enthusiasm.

She is supporting Clinton.

"President Clinton and she supported the apology bill to Hawaiians, and as a Hawaiian that's very important. That's a start," she said.

At Hilo High School, caucus participants jammed the overheated cafeteria while precinct leaders bellowed out the names of registered participants.

Kevin Hopkins, who stood at the door directing participants to the areas of the cafeteria designated for their precincts, advised latecomers to "just squeeze in as best you can." He said he had no idea how many hundreds of people were packed into the room.

One activist pressed against the window of the cafeteria turned to a companion in astonishment, shaking his head. "I have never attended a caucus that had more than 20 people," he said.

Hilo retiree Mildred Murakami emerged from voting in her first caucus ever at about 7:30 p.m. to rest on a bench.

"It was such an interesting race, I wanted to be involved," she said. "It was pretty chaotic."

'IT'S A TSUNAMI'

Hilo resident Marie Okutsu, an Obama supporter, said she was initially sent to the wrong caucus site, and waited patiently to vote until almost 8 p.m. Then she was sent to Hilo High. Once there, "I had to make a fuss about it, but I got to vote."

Bobby Jean Leithead Todd, a party activist for 40 years, joked that in an ordinary caucus year, a handful of Democrat diehards would be at caucus sites using their cell phones to coax other party members in to vote because there weren't enough people to organize.

"This year, I have had people stop me at the supermarket ... asking, 'Where do I go?'"

Most of the more than 200 people who turned out at Koloa Public Library had never been to a caucus before. That was about 100 more than precinct chairman Monroe Richman was expecting.

"I expected this, but I didn't expect this much," he said. "It's a tsunami."

"This is the most impassioned election I have ever seen," said Richman, an Obama supporter. "More so than when Kennedy ran. People really have hopes. This vote tonight I think was certainly an affirmation of their belief and hope."

Koloa caucus participant Richard Masumoto called Obama "the cleanest cut of all of the candidates, including the Republicans. He's not from the old-boy network."

His friend Leonard Nadoza said Obama gets his vote because "he's a homeboy."

Longtime political activists David Diehl and Amy Barber said they believe in Clinton, even if they are in the minority.

"She's more clear about how she explains things," Barber said. "I like that she reviews every detail and knows every subject."