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CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Early voting has begun in West Virginia, with county clerks throughout the state reporting lines of people waiting to cast their ballots.

Officials in Kanawha, Raleigh, Cabell, Monongalia and Berkeley counties all reported steady turnout Wednesday, the first day of early voting.

"It's been pretty steady all morning,'' said Teresa Powell, chief deputy clerk in Cabell County. "We had a lot of people come in yesterday thinking they could vote, so this is probably some of them coming back.''

In Raleigh County, a line of voters was waiting to use one of five machines at the county courthouse by lunchtime, while Kanawha County had recorded about 350 votes by the same time Wednesday.

Early voting has only been part of one previous presidential election, but it proved popular. About 126,500 people, more than 10 percent of all registered voters, cast their ballots early in 2004, when President George W. Bush carried the state.

In the May 13 primary this year, a total of 70,815 residents marked ballots during the early voting period. That's nearly 14 percent of the overall number of primary votes cast, far surpassing the roughly 27,000 early votes cast in the 2004 primary.

Unlike 2004, though, West Virginia has not been targeted by either presidential campaign, and the registration of new voters has lagged behind what it was four years ago.

The official tally won't be available until Friday at the earliest, but the most recent figures from Secretary of State Betty Ireland's office show 1,204,407 registered voters, an increase of 20,912 from the May 13 primary. Four years ago, the voter rolls jumped by more than 65,000 between the primary and the general election.

Click here for more political coverage.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Early voting has begun in West Virginia, with county clerks throughout the state reporting lines of people waiting to cast their ballots.

Officials in Kanawha, Raleigh, Cabell, Monongalia and Berkeley counties all reported steady turnout Wednesday, the first day of early voting.

"It's been pretty steady all morning,'' said Teresa Powell, chief deputy clerk in Cabell County. "We had a lot of people come in yesterday thinking they could vote, so this is probably some of them coming back.''

In Raleigh County, a line of voters was waiting to use one of five machines at the county courthouse by lunchtime, while Kanawha County had recorded about 350 votes by the same time Wednesday.

Early voting has only been part of one previous presidential election, but it proved popular. About 126,500 people, more than 10 percent of all registered voters, cast their ballots early in 2004, when President George W. Bush carried the state.

In the May 13 primary this year, a total of 70,815 residents marked ballots during the early voting period. That's nearly 14 percent of the overall number of primary votes cast, far surpassing the roughly 27,000 early votes cast in the 2004 primary.

Unlike 2004, though, West Virginia has not been targeted by either presidential campaign, and the registration of new voters has lagged behind what it was four years ago.

The official tally won't be available until Friday at the earliest, but the most recent figures from Secretary of State Betty Ireland's office show 1,204,407 registered voters, an increase of 20,912 from the May 13 primary. Four years ago, the voter rolls jumped by more than 65,000 between the primary and the general election.

In contrast to the blitz of candidate visits four years ago, both Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain have spent little time in West Virginia, with McCain visiting most recently in August.

A lack of closely contested state races may also have played a role in failing to attract larger numbers of new voters.

But the state campaigns of the two major party presidential candidates both see early voting as an opportunity.

The Democrats are planning Saturday rallies and will have vans ready to take voters to the polls, according to Tom Vogel, the Obama campaign's state director.

The Obama campaign workers have had their spirits lifted by growing speculation that the state may not be the easy McCain win pundits had predicted.

"Everybody feels like what they've been doing is starting to pay off,'' Vogel said.

Republicans kicked off early voting with a Tuesday night rally, and McCain campaign spokesman Ben Beakes said the early balloting period has all along been an important part of their strategy.

"We are in the final phase,'' he said. "It's all about getting out the vote.''