Voting throughout Hawai'i in today's general election was largely trouble-free, state election officials said, though it was not until about 7:45 p.m. that the first results were released.

Rex Quidilla, spokesman for the state Office of Elections, said the results were withheld until officials received confirmation that all the polls had officially closed. The polls were scheduled to close at 6 p.m., but people in line at that time were allowed to cast their ballots.

Earlier, Quidilla said that the process ran relatively smoothly. "Voters were able to vote. We did hear of lines, but the lines moved," he said. "Voters were able to vote."

There have been few complaints at the 339 polling stations, he said.

"We get a sense that the turnout is going to be quite good," he said early in the day. "We do have sense that at the very least, turnout will be much better than the primary."

Quidilla said early this morning that all polling places were up and running on time.

A few of the polling places even had extra workers, he said this morning.

"We anticipated the turnout would be much better than it was for the primary elections."

He said polling places were staffed "at the 100 percent level."

Poll workers at Hau'ula Elementary School in Windward O'ahu said the early-morning turnout was higher than normal, but things were running smoothly.

There was no waiting line although almost every voting booth was filled at 7:30 a.m.

Waikiki resident Charles Gonzalez wanted to make sure he didn't miss today's historic vote. He showed up with his own chair at the Waikiki Community Center at 5:45 a.m. and waited first in line for the polls to open at 7.

"I noticed the voting turnout was high on the Mainland, so I thought I'd better get here ahead of the crowd," said Gonzalez, 48.

Gonzalez has lived in Waikiki the past four years. He cast the first vote this morning for Barack Obama, 'no' to rail and ConCon, and 'yes' to Mufi Hannemann.

"I like Mufi as mayor, but I think we have to look into rail more," Gonzalez said. "They made the decision for steel-on-steel and where to go too quickly."

Gonzalez said the late release of the rail project's environmental impact study swayed his vote. He's been leaning leaning toward "yes," but after listening to mayoral candidate Ann Kobayashi's take on transit and then getting the late release of the EIS, his mind was made up.

Mercedes A. Toni Franco, 44, was next in line, coming straight from her night shift to the polls.

"I wanted to make sure I got my 'no' vote in for rail," she said. "Mufi is a fantastic mayor, but they have no idea of what they're getting into. I've lived in a major metropolitan area. This plan isn't ready. I want mass transit, but the way this is set up is not mass transit. This plan was shoved down poeple's throats. You have to respect the issues people have with it."

Franco said she chose Democrat Obama for president, but called Republican John McCain "qualified." As for McCain's running mate Sarah Palin, Franco said she was going to be "crucified" no matter what she did during the campaign.

"She's the first female — she had some good points, but she may not be ready for the position," Franco said.

Franco also said Peter Carlisle swayed her ConCon vote to "yes."

"He brought up some good points," she said. "I was surprised at how much money came in from out of state to vote no."

Sasha Zaytseva, 25, came to Waikiki 12 years ago from Russia. Today marks her first election.

"It's history-making," she said. "I came for Obama."

Zaytseva believes McCain's choice of a running mate doomed his campaign.

"She's not ready," Zaytseva said.

As to rail, Zaytseva supported it.

"We don't need to waste all this gas. We need to relieve congestion on the road," she said.

Gisele Mickens, 44, brought her 5-year-old son, Kiki, to the booth. She voted for Obama and "no" to Hannemann and rail.

"Not steel on steel," she said. "I lived in Montreal and Toronto and they have quiet efficient systems that run on electricity. We need to look at that model."

As for the mayoral vote, she said, "It makes no sense to vote no for rail and yes to Mufi."

To her, "Ann Kobayashi seems to me more honest about a lot of things."