Here's what's happening at polls around the area today:

3:55 p.m. Community of Christ Church, Akron

Early voting traffic was much heavier than normal at Community of Christ church on West Exchange Street in Akron.

At 6:45 a.m., the line of voters from Akron's Ward 8 stretched well into the parking lot.

Parked cars overflowed onto the church lawn and left voters parking along Exchange Street.

--David Giffels

2:25 p.m. — Green High School, Green

John Greven brought his daughter, Sydney, 8, with him when he voted this afternoon at the school on Boettler Road. The Kleckner Elementary School student was able to spend the day with her dad because it is a teacher in-service day.

Syndey spent the morning with her father, an attorney, in Judge Judith Hunter's Summit County Common Pleas courtroom. He chose to vote after lunch to avoid the noon rush at the polls.

Sydney said she felt it was important to cast a vote ‘‘so we can pick our president.''

Greven called it ‘‘a democracy day'' for the child because she had experienced a courtroom and a voting booth all in the same day.

— Colette Jenkins

2:20 p.m. — Medina County Board of Elections, Medina

The elections board encountered few problems and all polling places reported opening on time this morning, said an elections board worker who answered the phone.

The employee, who said she was not allowed to be quoted, said they had 25 roving troubleshooters handling any minor problems that arose today with slow machines or people who may be campaigning too close to the polls.

— Kathy Antoniotti

1:30 p.m. — Barberton Wesleyan Methodist Church, Barberton

Eighty-nine-year-old cousins Patricia Soltis and Helen Krizovski ran into each other while voting at the church on 26th Street. Soltis, who used a cane as she entered the building, saw Krizovski, who uses a walker, as she was leaving.

‘‘If you want to get the person you want in, you have to vote. I want a certain person who is better than the one who is in there,'' Soltis said.

‘‘The first time I voted (was) for Roosevelt in his second term and I've been voting Democrat ever since,'' Krizovski said.

— Colette Jenkins

1:09 p.m. — Norton Middle School, Norton

Barack Obama was declared the winner in today's Norton Middle School election as students from the fifth- through eighth-grade classes awarded Obama 449 electorial votes to the 89 garnered by McCain.

Classes were assigned a state with the same number of electoral votes they will cast in the national election today, said Middle School Principal Joyce Gerber.

‘‘We had a problem with one first period class where the girls were assigned Ohio with it's 20 votes and the boys were assigned North Dakota's three votes. There was a little bit of dissention over that yesterday,'' Gerber said.

They wanted to keep the election process as close to the national election as possible to teach the children how today's race will be decided, she said.

The school on Cleveland-Massillon Road has 850 students.

— Kathy Antoniotti

12:25 p.m. — Akron General Health & Wellness Center, Bath Township

We got in line at 10:40 a.m. at the Wellness Center on state Route 18. The wait was about 25 minutes start to finish, mostly due to a maintenance issue with the scanner that took about 10 minutes to resolve.

The lines were about 10 deep for each precinct. A female voter grumbled about the wait as she was leaving and pledged to vote absentee next time around.

Also, I had to ask the scanner attendant to look away while I put my ballot in the scanner. (I noticed she had looked at my wife's as it was being fed through). She obliged.

— Phil Trexler

12:20 p.m. — The Inn at Medina, Medina

When the polls opened at the inn on High Point Drive in the southern portion of Medina, the lines quickly grew to more than one hour.

The early rush subsided as the wait dropped to about 15 minutes before noon.

The short wait was a relief for Medina teacher Wendy Ludy, who remembers waiting more than an hour during the last presidential election.

"It was a short line. I was surprised," she said as she walked out of the polls.

— Craig Webb 

12:15 p.m. — Green Middle School

A steady flow of heavy voting shortly before noon at the Steese Road school was speeded by allowing voters to use choir room chairs to sit and cast their ballots. Vote time in Precinct 3A: 10 minutes.

— Doug Oplinger

12:05 p.m. — Buchtel High School, Akron

Although Warren Jackson, 46, is a veteran, he was voting for the first time in his life today at the school on Copley Road.

‘‘I've never known anyone to win by one vote, but I figured I couldn't take a chance this year. It's time for a change,'' Jackson said.

He said he was expecting to have to wait in a long line, but he was able to walk in and vote right away.

‘‘Now I'm a part of history. I'm voting for the first time. That in itself is historical,'' Jackson said.

-- Colette Jenkins

11:50 a.m. — Summit County Board of Elections, Akron

Voters will be permitted to vote if they wear campaign apparel or T-shirts sporting a candidate's name or picture to polls today, although election poll workers may ask them to cover pins or badges, elections officials said.

Also, people campaigning at polling sites must be at least 100 feet away from the front of the building. If long lines of voters exist beyond the 100 feet limit, campaigners must stay an additional 10 feet away from voters.

— Kathy Antoniotti

11:10 a.m. — First Baptist Church of Akron, Akron

Outside the polling location at First Baptist Church of Akron on Shatto Avenue, Democrats were handing out Democratic ballots at about 10:30 a.m.

Supporters of Issue 8, the city's proposal to lease the sewer lines in exchange for scholarships, also were outside the polling location to try to sway voters. City Prosecutor Douglas J. Powley was among the supporters on hand to promote the ballot issue.

Inside the church, voters waited in lines from 15 minutes to 40 minutes to cast their ballots.

— Stephanie Warsmith

10:55 a.m. — King Elementary School, Akron

Summit County Engineer Greg Bachman is standing at the end of the driveway to the school on Memorial Parkway holding a green campaign sign bearing his name.

‘‘I'm here talking with my neighbors in my precinct just trying to get their vote,'' Bachman said.

Four precincts vote at the busy polling place.

Although more than 100 voters were lined up when polls opened this morning, Bachman said it took him only 20 minutes to vote after waiting until the crowd thinned out.

— Colette Jenkins

10:35 a.m. — Summit County Board of Elections, Akron

Summit County Board of Elections Deputy Director Bryan Williams confirmed the polls are busy, ‘‘but there are no crises as far as I know.''

‘‘It appears that all our precincts reported opening on time,'' Williams said.

As officials expected, polling places reported heavy voting when polls opened, but now voting is steady, with no waiting, he said.

Williams said only one issue has come up today, that of Democratic observers who wore badges that read ''If you need help, ask here.'' But observers are not supposed to interact with voters and the badges encouraged voters to speak to them, he said.

Williams said the Elections Board asked Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner for a ruling on the issue and she said observers must remove them.

‘‘I think right now the problem is being snuffed out,'' Williams said.

— Kathy Antoniotti

10:30 a.m. — Woodridge Middle School, Peninsula

At Woodridge Middle School on Quick Road in Peninsula, lines were short and moving briskly just after 10 a.m.

The longest line in one precinct had about 20 pople.

A poll worker said, however, that it was busier earlier in the morning. By 6 a.m., voters were lined up across the street waiting for the polls to open at 6:30 a.m.

The gym was full, with a steady stream of people until about 8:30 a.m., the worker said.

A poll worker who voted early said she waited in line longer to cast her ballot early than those who showed up at the polls today.

— Betty Lin-Fisher

10:25 a.m. — Voting by absentee ballot — well in advance of Election Day

I'm gloating this morning. As I listen to all of these horror stories about endless waits at the polls and screwed-up procedures, I just keep patting myself on the back for voting well in advance, through the mail. It cost me all of $1.17 in postage.

Why doesn't everyone do that? Not only do you avoid the lines, you get a chance to really study every race and issue and know exactly what you're voting on.

The only downside is you don't get one of those little stickers that says you voted. I can live with that.

— Bob Dyer

10:12 a.m. — First Congregational Church, Tallmadge

Ralph Higgs, 76, came back to the church on Heritage Drive for the second time this morning — this time he voted.

Higgs said he went to vote this morning at 6:30 a.m., found a long line and went back home. He said he read part of a book, went to a doctor's appointment and came back at about 9:45 a.m.

‘‘I hope the outcome is better times for the U.S. economy,'' Higgs said.

— Colette Jenkins

10 a.m. — Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Plain Township

Anyone who voted prior to 8 a.m. using a paper ballot in Precinct 23 in Stark County's Plain Township likely didn't get a complete ballot.

A voter alerted a poll worker at about 8 a.m. at the Market Avenue Northwest church that Issue 6 wasn't on her paper ballot.

Initially, the worker insisted the issue had been removed from the ballot. But when the woman persisted, the worker looked in a stack of papers and discovered the second page of the ballot.

— Bob DeMay

9:45 a.m. — American Legion Hall, Post 496, Kent

There are about a dozen people waiting in two lines to vote in two precincts at the hall on Mogadore Road.

Glenn Bruce, 56, just finished casting his vote. He said he wouldn't have missed voting today.

‘‘This is the most historic election I have ever voted in because we will have either a female vice president or a person of color as president. I voted for Obama because McCain is one heartbeat away from Sarah Palin being president. Eight years of failure is enough,'' said Bruce.

— Colette Jenkins

9:30 a.m. — Case Elementary School, Akron

Voting at the elementary school on West Vale Avenue on the West side of Akron was brisk for Precinct 8 at 8:55 a.m.

Polling booths were filled and voters experienced a 20 minute wait.

— Joe Thomas

9:25 a.m. — Mogadore Community Center, Mogadore

The polling place was very crowded for the 7 a.m. crowd at the community center on Mogadore Road. Parking was at a premium and voters had to park at a nearby McDonalds. Still, it only took about 20 minutes to vote.

By 9 a.m., the lines had dwindled.

— Rich Heldenfels

9:20 a.m. — Brimfield Elementary School, Brimfield Township

Lines for two precincts that vote at the State Route 43 school are still out the door. There are about 75 people in line now.

Poll workers said people began lining up outside the door at 6 a.m.

Ann Adkins, 44, who works the night shift at Robinson Memorial Hospital, said she was excited to see so many people out voting today.

‘‘This is the most crowded I've ever seen it,'' said her husband, Tim Adkins, 45, a Ravenna police officer.

— Colette Jenkins

9:10 a.m. — Westminster Presbyterian Church, Akron

A voter who made it to the polls at the West Market Street church in Akron at 6:40 a.m. had a 45-minute wait, while one who voted two hours later got right in.

‘‘I was the 110th voter at 8:40 a.m. and voted right away,'' the voter said.

— Lynne Sherwin

9:05 a.m. — Woodland Elementary School, Stow

Poll workers said voting was steady at the Graham Road location in Stow. They were feeding the ballot scanner machine an average of one vote per minute.

At any given time between 8:30 and 9 a.m., all 15 voting booths were filled with about 10 to 15 people waiting in line to vote.

Voting took about half an hour.

— Cheryl Powell

8:35 a.m. — Seiberling Elementary School, Akron

Voting was brisk to start off at 6:40 a.m., with about 80 people waiting in line to vote at the small gymnasium in the school at Brittain Road and Newton Street.

The process took about 40 minutes from start to finish, and the line was gone by 7:20.

— Susan Reynolds

8:15 a.m. — Wayne County Board of Elections, Wooster

Wayne County Board of Elections Director Patty Johns reported few glitches at the polls this morning.

‘‘I'm thinking we did good,'' she said.

Johns said she thinks poll workers got a bit nervous when they looked outside and saw long lines waiting for the polls to open.

‘‘I've never seen anything like this before in my entire life,'' Johns said.

At 6:10 a.m., State Rep. Jim Carmichael, R-Wooster, of the 3rd House District said he arrived to vote at Triway High School and reported smooth sailing, Johns said.

‘‘He said there were already 19 people ahead of him in line when he arrived,'' she said.

Carmichael, the assistant majority floor leader, said his voting experience went smoothly.

— Kathy Antoniotti

8:05 a.m. — Senior Center and Community Center, Randolph Township

At 6:15 a.m., about 75 people were in lines at the Senior Center and Community Center in Randolph Township. By the time the doors opened at 6:30 a.m., the lines had doubled and at least 150 people waited to vote.

Voting took about 15 minutes after the doors opened. Lines were moving smoothly and voting was orderly.

— Darrin Werbeck

7:25 a.m. — Crusader Baptist Church, Copley Township

Matt Hornbrook of Copley arrived at Crusader Baptist Church on Copley Road on his motorcycle at 6:35 a.m. He planned to vote before heading to his job in Cleveland.

Hornbrook waited in a fast-moving, orderly line and said he bought a motorcycle when gas went up to $2.50 a gallon.

‘‘Now that they [gas prices] are down, I'm, still riding it,'' he said.

At about 6:45 a.m., Robyn Walker, 22, of Copley Township, said this is the second presidential election he has voted in.

The Obama supporter said he was ‘‘very excited'' to cast his ballot today at the church.

Inside, Janet Balding and Carol Heiser waited in line together, talking like old friends.

‘‘No, we just met,'' said Balding, of Copley.

‘‘We live in the same neighborhood. Just a two minute walk from me,'' she said.

— Kathy Antoniotti

7:05 a.m. — Fairlawn Lutheran Church, Fairlawn

The line of people snaked around the building in the direction of the Smith Road entrance to Fairlawn Lutheran Church. Parking spaces were gone before the polls opened at 6:30 a.m.

Most said they expected the long lines and wanted to vote before heading to work.

Shrouded in fog, at least 50 people stood in the darkness waiting their turn to enter the building. At least twice that many had been allowed inside before the polls opened.

Charles Talley was the first to arrive at the church at 5:15 a.m. He said he was permitted to enter before 5:30 a.m.

Debbie Bednar, second in line, said she arrived at the polls early after landing in Cleveland last night on a return flight from Chicago.

''All the TVs were saying Ohio, Ohio, Ohio. So I thought I better get in to vote. I've had three hours of sleep,'' Bednar said.

Longtime Fairlawn resident and election poll worker Phyllis Martino stood inside, answering questions and making sure people knew where they needed to go to vote. 

Martino was one of two ''greeters'' at the site, ready to expedite any problems voters experienced.

''We try to steer them in the right direction,'' Martino said.

— Kathy Antoniotti