Long lines and record turnouts greeted voters Tuesday morning, as people turned out to vote in an historic election between Democratic candidate Barack Obama and his Republican counterpart John McCain.

When the votes have been counted, the U.S. will have either elected its first African-American president, or its oldest first-time president and first female vice president.

Both early voting and Election Day voting numbers have set records in several places, said election officials at UT's University Center.

Andy Blansett, a senior in political science at UT and an election official, said this year has seen a higher turnout in voters aged 18-24 because the "issues between candidates have energized college students to vote."

Polls opened at 8 a.m. Tuesday in Knox County and will remain open until 8 p.m. About 1,100 people had voted at the University Center at the time of this report, and around 60 students were in line at 3 p.m. Blansett said to expect similar lines until the polls close.

Blansett also commented that he had visited three polling stations during the day and some were experiencing problems that added to voters' waits.

"Two of the three stations I worked at today had problems with their machines," Blansett said. "One location had three machines go down at once. That and voters trying to campaign while in line have been the biggest problems today."

Blansett said voters are not permitted to wear shirts or stickers supporting candidates within 100 feet of a voting station. Some voters have been asked to cover shirts with a jacket or turn them inside out while waiting in line, he added.