MIAMI (AP) – Florida kicked off early voting on Monday, with record crowds heading to the polls and voters waiting hours to cast their ballots. Elections officials said the few reported problems were minor.

Final statewide numbers for ballots cast Monday won’t be available until Tuesday, but counties large and small, traditionally Democrat and traditionally Republican, were reporting record turnout. The early voting sites will remain open two weeks until the weekend before Election Day.

The Sunshine State is again key this election season, with a prize of 27 electoral votes – 10 percent of the 270 needed to clinch the election. The state’s disputed election in 2000 gave the presidency to George W. Bush, and he captured the state in 2004. This year, Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama are locked in a close race.

Registration numbers released Sunday show a 600,000-voter edge for Democrats over Republicans in Florida: 4.7 million versus 4.1 million, with 2.1 million people identifying with neither party.

Farther north in Palm Beach County, about 150 people waited outside the elections office.

Turnout was also heavy in the Florida Panhandle, where McCain, a former Navy pilot who spent 51/2 years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam, is expected to do well among the large military contingent. Still, Obama had his supporters there.

Nationwide, about a third of the electorate is expected to vote early this year. That would be up from 22 percent in 2004 and 16 percent in 2000. In Florida, early voting continues until the weekend before Election Day.

Voters in every state can now cast ballots through early voting or absentee voting programs. Results won’t be released until Nov. 4, but a look at those who have voted shows the Democrats have been aggressive.

In Georgia, Iowa, North Carolina and Ohio, Democrats – or at least those living in heavily Democratic areas – are requesting and submitting ballots in large numbers. In Florida, Republicans hold an edge, while in Indiana, absentee voting has been split among Republican and Democratic areas.