COLUMBUS — People snaked through long lines in many election offices across the state today to vote early, with many trying to get their ballots in before the heavy rain and ice predicted for Ohio's presidential primary.

Elections officials were unsure whether the surge in voting would lighten traffic at polling places on Tuesday, when record turnout was predicted largely because of interest in the tight Democratic presidential race between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.

Voters waited in a line that wound through the Franklin County elections board office, down a hallway and onto the sidewalk. The office was to stay open four hours later than normal until 9 p.m. to accommodate voters. Roughly halfway through the day's voting, more than 1,000 people had already voted, officials said.

Shery Hill, 45, of Cleveland, a human-resources employee for a bank, said she cast an absentee ballot at the Cuyahoga County elections office because she was concerned about weather, her work schedule and the possibility of long lines at her polling place.

"This made it very convenient, and I'm glad the option was there," she said.

In rural Hardin County, at a board of elections office where four people were working, 60 to 70 people voted today in what was the busiest day for early voting.

"People were making a run today," said Director Sandy Bookmyer, saying it felt more like working in a grocery store.

For more than three weeks, Ohioans have been voting early in person or through the mail for the first presidential primary election in which they don't have to show a reason to vote absentee. Weather forecasts for Tuesday's election ranging from ice in the north to heavy rain in the south contributed to what has already been a popular voting option.

In Allen County in northwestern Ohio, elections director Keith Cunningham reserved a block of rooms at a nearby hotel. If it looked like ice was going to move in overnight, Cunningham was going to instruct his employees to spend the night in the hotel to make sure they were ready for polls to open.

Today was "one of the busier days I've ever seen," said Cunningham, who likened it to the days preceding the general election in 2004.

At the Lucas County office in Toledo, officials decided to open for early voting on Sunday after 700 voters showed up the day before. Obama's campaign began calling voters in Toledo to tell them they had the option to vote Sunday.

Voters also will be making choices in legislative and congressional primaries.

Used to weak turnout in previous presidential primaries, when nominees typically had locked up their support before the Ohio election, state officials are preparing for a record number of voters in Tuesday's crucial contest. Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has predicted that more than 4 million of Ohio's 8 million registered voters will cast ballots for a 52 percent turnout rate.

Elections officials expect early votes to account for between 10 percent and 20 percent of ballots.

Franklin County was prepared for a busy primary day, despite the effect the weather and the early voting might have on the number of people showing up to vote.

"We don't know if this is interest in the presidential race, or interest in absentee voting," said Ben Piscitelli, spokesman for the Franklin County Board of Elections. "So we will have to wait and see. But we'll be ready."

Officials have been testing voting equipment for weeks to make sure paper-ballot scanning machines and touch-screen devices are functioning properly.

Cuyahoga County — which has the state's largest bloc of Democratic voters — has undergone widespread and rapid changes to its voting systems in recent months after past problems delayed results.

Cuyahoga County is switching from touch-screen computer voting to paper. And the 53 Ohio counties that are using touch-screen machines have been ordered by Brunner to make paper ballots available for any voter who requests one.

Susan Wetzel, 50, a nurse, traveled about five miles today to the elections board in Cleveland from her home in Cleveland Heights.

She was impressed with voting on a paper ballot for the first time.

"I think it's going to be less confusing for a lot of people," Wetzel said just after finishing her vote.

Hamilton County, just to be sure, has printed more ballots than there are registered voters.

However, Franklin County officials said only about 1 percent of early voters requested a paper ballot instead of a touch-screen machine heading into today.