Voters in Omaha waited in long lines for as much as two hours Friday to cast early ballots in this year’s historic presidential race.

The line that snaked outside the Douglas County election office in west Omaha probably contained about 100 persons during most of the day, Election Commissioner Dave Phipps said.

Phipps is expecting a record turnout of 215,000 voters by the end of Election Day next Tuesday.

The early vote count and its composition appeared to reflect the fact that Barack Obama has mounted perhaps the most extensive Democratic presidential campaign in Nebraska history, an effort limited to metropolitan Omaha’s 2nd Congressional District.

Early Douglas County voters, including those who requested absentee ballots by mail, totaled 56,369 before Friday’s deluge began, Phipps said. That’s a record early voter count.

The early voter breakdown showed 27,383 Democrats, compared to  19,731 Republicans. Independents numbered 9,005.

Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans in the county by about 3,600.

Some 15,124 persons had voted in person by the time the election office opened Friday morning with a long line waiting outdoors. 

Phipps had no count on the number of absentee ballots that already have been returned, but said it’s fair to estimate that 90 percent of those people who requested ballots will vote.

“It’s just been crazy this week,” he said.

Phipps is anticipating 68 percent of Douglas County’s 315,000 registered voters will cast ballots in this year’s election.

The Obama campaign has mounted an aggressive field operation in Omaha in a bid for one of Nebraska’s presidential electoral votes. Among the campaign’s primary goals was a large turnout of early voters.

Nebraska awards one of its five electoral votes to the winner of each of the state’s three congressional districts. The other two votes go to the statewide victor.

Republican nominee John McCain’s presidential campaign has left Nebraska in the hands of a strong GOP state party that has a track record of successful get-out-the-vote campaigns.

The competitive presidential scrap has fueled a tight struggle between five-term Republican Rep. Lee Terry and Democratic challenger Jim Esch for the 2nd District House seat.

The congressional district is composed of Douglas County and portions of Sarpy County, including Bellevue, Papillion and LaVista.

Reach Don Walton at 473-7248 or at dwalton@journalstar.com.