Greg Toppo

USATODAY

After a long, bitter and sometimes surreal national contest, Americans on Tuesday went to the polls to elect a new president.

Voters faced long lines at many polling places but no major impediments, even as an estimated 90 million Americans filed through schools, churches, public libraries, civic centers and grocery stores to cast ballots. Fears of voting problems pushed voting rights advocates, conservative watchdogs and even international observers to monitor voting.

By midday Tuesday, voters in several states had complained of long waits and, on occasion, supply disruptions and technical glitches, from reliably blue Massachusetts to the battleground states of Virginia, Ohio, North Carolina and Michigan.

Meryl Kessler, of the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts, said there had been reports of "excessively long lines" at polling locations in Boston, with at least seven communities, including Boston, Springfield, Lawrence, New Bedford and Chelsea, reporting broken voting machines.

In heavily Democratic Rosslyn, Va., just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., voters waited for more than an hour. The hangup? Multiple ballot issues on authoritizing spending for public projects — and a complicated constitutional change proposal on union organizing, officials said.

In Ohio, the state's elections office said turnout appeared to be robust, with relatively few problems. Matthew McClellan, a spokesman for Secretary of State Jon Husted, said it was too soon to say if Tuesday's turnout would break records.

Voters in the Dayton and Columbus areas encountered technical problems that slowed voting and lengthened lines earlier in the day.

In Asheville, N.C., voter Justin Byerly, said the decision for president was difficult. "Until 11 days ago I was for Hillary (Clinton)," he said. "Then the emails happened."

In Durham County, N.C., officials said one precinct ran out of paper authorization-to-vote forms for about 90 minutes, prompting a few voters to leave. A county spokeswoman said no voters were turned away. The forms were later replenished.

Durham County is using paper poll books instead of electronic check-in because at least five precincts had technical issues, AP reported.

In Detroit’s West Village area, a machine that counts ballots was out of commission early Tuesday, causing confusion and anger among voters. Workers at the precinct told voters they could either leave their ballot in a secure box or wait for a technician to arrive. About 45 people, including Marilyn King, 62, decided to wait.

“This is horrible. Absolutely sad,” King said. “I want my vote to be counted like everybody else’s. I want to put my own ballot in and have it counted.”

A technician arrived at 8:56 a.m., and workers began processing ballots about 10 minutes later.

Elsewhere, voters near Detroit and Kansas City said a shortage of black- and blue-ink pens slowed the process, with voters in some cases passing pens to one another between voting booths, one voter tweeted.

Even as the sun rose on Tuesday, a sizeable chunk of votes — more than 42 million — had already been cast in early voting, according to Michael P. McDonald of the University of Florida.

In Chicago, more than 325,000 voters cast early ballots ahead of Tuesday, breaking the previous record of 260,000 in 2008, when President Obama, who launched his political career in the city, won his first term in the White House. On Tuesday, a few polling places had long waits, but by late morning the lines had dissipated and voters at many polling sites faced no waits.

“I do like voting on Election Day,” said Kristin Steinbach, 33. “There is something about being part of the excitement.”

Clinton and her opponent, Republican Donald Trump, both New Yorkers, voted Tuesday at polling places near their homes.

In Manassas Park, Va., Oscar Crespo, 44, a Bolivian immigrant, said he was "thinking about the economy" as he voted for Trump. "I think the country needs a new direction. It seems to me it's stuck, there's no vitality in the country."

Crespo said he liked what the developer has said on trade policy and the economy. Also, Crespo said, "I think he has good proposals for the lawlessness that's been going on with immigration."

In East Austin, Texas, a steady stream of voters filed into the Fiesta Supermarket, despite a persistent light rain.

Abot Jacob, 63, originally from Cameroon, said it was his first vote in a U.S. presidential election, despite having lived here for more than eight years. He voted for Clinton, he said.

"In my country, we learn what's called respect for others," Jacob said. "Even if you promised me millions of dollars, I wouldn't vote for Trump."

Voters in 34 states are also deciding U.S. Senate races, a contest that will decide whether control of the chamber stays in Republican hands or switches to Democrats. Most observers this week have considered it too close to call.

Across the USA, voters are deeply divided as the race ends, recent surveys show, and somewhat cynical about the two presidential candidates.

According to the Pew Research Center, 56% of registered voters believe Trump has “little or no respect” for the USA’s democratic institutions and traditions. More than one in three — 37% — say the same about Clinton.

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Pew found that 58% of those who support Clinton say they “have a hard time respecting someone” who supports Trump. Four in 10 Trump voters say they have a hard time respecting Clinton backers.

Trump has urged supporters to watch polling stations for signs of a "rigged" election. By contrast, civil rights advocates are warning of problems, particularly in Southern states freed from federal restrictions on voting procedures. Previously, they needed federal approval to take actions such as moving polling places.

The U.S. Justice Department has sent more than 500 monitors to 28 states to determine whether voters are subjected to racial discrimination or other barriers related to language differences or disabilities. A coalition of civil rights groups said it has more than 4,500 volunteers fielding calls in Washington, D.C., and monitoring voting in 29 states.

Observers are also on hand from as far as Europe and South America to see whether America's democratic system can withstand pressures from within the political system and beyond — extending, perhaps, to efforts by Russia and others to hack into voting systems.

Voters nationwide on Tuesday were also staring down a raft of ballot initiatives, propositions and constitutional amendments — in California alone, voters today must sift through 17 measures.

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Voters there, as well as in Arizona, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada, are voting on legalizing recreational marijuana, while voters in Arkansas, Florida, Montana and North Dakota are voting on whether to permit medical use for certain conditions such as cancer or chronic pain.

By Wednesday morning, nearly 60 million Americans — 40 million in California alone — may wake up to find themselves living in states that have abolished long-standing marijuana prohibitions. Another 24 million could find themselves in states with newly legal medical marijuana use.

Voters in four states — Arizona, Colorado, Maine and Washington — are also weighing ballot initiatives that would raise the minimum wage.

Also in California, two very different state propositions could determine the fate of prisoners on Death Row: Proposition 62 would replace the death penalty for convicted first-degree murderers with life in prison without the possibility of parole.

By contrast, Proposition 66 would accelerate death penalty cases by imposing time limits on them. It would also increase the number of available attorneys for legal challenges to death sentences.

In Nebraska, a referendum that would abolish the death penalty statewide is already proving confusing for voters. The referendum on Legislative Bill 268, which passed the state legislature last year, asks whether voters should “retain” it and get rid of Nebraska’s death penalty, or “repeal” it and keep the death penalty.

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“If voters aren’t careful, they easily could become confused and vote the opposite of their desires,” the Omaha World-Herald warned recently.

In the battle for control of the U.S. Senate, Republicans currently control 54 of 100 seats and 24 of the 34 seats up for grabs today. Democrats need only flip five to regain control. If Clinton prevails, Democrats need just four, as her vice presidential nominee, Tim Kaine, would preside over the Senate and could cast deciding votes.

As voting progressed Tuesday, hundreds of people showed up at the historic Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester, N.Y., to pay respects to women's rights pioneer Susan B. Anthony, placing "I Voted Today" stickers on Anthony's modest, time-worn headstone. The Election Day tradition has gained new meaning with Clinton's candidacy. Before the day ends, the former senator from New York could become America's first female president-elect.

Many smiled and laughed in delight at the occasion. Others wept.

By midday, more than 1,000 people, a large majority of them women and girls, had made the pilgrimage to the 196-acre Victorian cemetery. Hundreds more stood patiently in line, enduring an hour's wait for the chance to approach Anthony's grave. The headstone was soon covered in stickers, with only Anthony's name visible. Yellow flowers, a symbol of women's suffrage, were heaped at the gravestone's foot.

"I'm voting for the first woman president. As a woman I can vote because of the sacrifices she made," said Gillian Paris of Brighton, N.Y.

Contributing: Doug Stanglin, Richard Wolf, Gregory Korte, Trevor Hughes, Paul Davidson, Bart Jansen, William Cummings, Aamer Madhani, Rick Jervis, USA TODAY; Dan Horn, The Cincinnati Enquirer; Abby Margulis, Asheville (N.C.) Citizen-Times; Bill Emkow, Detroit Free Press; Steve Orr, Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle; Jerrel Floyd and Patricia Torres, Special for USA TODAY; AP.

Follow Greg Toppo on Twitter: @gtoppo