"I came at 10:30 a.m., but the line was huge," Lorraine Otis said, "so I came back this afternoon."

Ward even, where Sen. Birch Bayh (D-Ind.) appeared to campaign, didn't see long delays. At Our Lady of Perpetual Health on Cypress St., the Democratic line was backed up at 4:30 p.m. but the Republican line was moving quickly.

Russell Taber, moderator for ward seven, attributed the lines to a "late-afternoon surge."

James White, a Republican, was waiting for his wife to cast her ballot. He said he felt the ballot was confusing. "It's really complicated with all those levers staring you in the face," he said.

Outside many of the polling places, volunteers carrying placards stood handing out literature for their candidates.

Ellen Barry, a Harris supporter from Somerville and a student at New York University Law School, said several members of the Kennedy family campaigned for Sargent Shriver outside the Ward 11 polls yesterday, but she said they were "flaky kids."

Outside ward three's Franklin St. polls, John Lally carried a "Write-in for Jackson" sign. He said he was paid $2.50 per hour for his services, but a Jackson spokesman denied paying anyone for campaign work.

C. Edward Barassa, a former state senator and Jackson coordinator, said all his workers were volunteers.