WASHINGTON — Voters cast their ballots in numbers not seen in at least 40 years, as millions of Americans picked their president early and waited in lines that stretched the lengths of blocks and buildings.

It looks like about 133.3 million people voted for president, based on preliminary results from the country's precincts tallied and projections for absentee ballots, said Michael McDonald of George Mason University. Using his methods, that would give 2008 a 62.5 percent turnout rate, he said.

Both numbers are estimates and may change as officials count more absentee and provisional ballots.

In Santa Fe County, 73 percent of registered voters cast ballots, clerk Valerie Espinoza said. In all, 70,514 county voters went to the polls. In 2004, 72 percent of registered voters went to the polls, an increase over the 64 percent who showed up for the 2000 presidential election.

New Mexico's statewide turnout was 68 percent, with some 814,000 voters hitting the polls, said James Flores, Secretary of State's Office spokesman. "We expected a turnout that was basically in line with the national trend," he said.

However, Secretary of State Mary Herrera had predicted an 80 percent turnout.

In 2004, 70 percent of voters in New Mexico cast ballots — 775,301 total voters. That represented a 26 percent increase from the votes cast in 2000.

McDonald estimated the national turnout to be about equal to or better than 1964, but not higher than 1960, when John F. Kennedy squeaked out a victory over Richard Nixon. The turnout rate then was 63.8 percent.

The total voting in 2008 easily outdistanced 2004's 122.3 million, which had been the highest grand total of voters before.

Curtis Gans, director of the nonpartisan Committee for the Study of the American Electorate at American University and dean of turnout experts, estimated the total votes to be between 126.5 million and 129 million. That puts the lower end of his estimate near the turnout rate in 2004, he said.

Different experts calculate turnout rates in different ways based on whom they consider eligible voters.

What's most interesting about early results is not just how many people voted but the shifting demographic of American voters, said Stephen Ansolabehere, a political science professor at Harvard and MIT.

Using exit polling data, Ansolabehere determined that whites made up 74 percent of the 2008 electorate. That's down considerably from 81 percent in 2000 because of increase in black and Hispanic voting, he said.

"That's a big shift in terms of demographic composition of the electorate," Ansolabehere said early Wednesday.

Breakdown by party voting also shows that Republican turnout rates are down quite a bit, while Democratic turnout rates are up, Gans said.

Republican states, such as Wyoming and South Dakota, saw turnout drop. "I think they were discouraged," Gans said.

Experts pointed to a weak economy and a lively campaign that promised a history-making result for the high turnout.

TURNOUT AT A GLANCE

73 percent of registered voters in Santa Fe County — 70, 514 people — went to the polls.

72 percent of county voters turned out in 2004, and 64 percent turned out in 2000.

68 percent of voters — 814,000 people — turned out statewide.

About 133.3 million Americans voted for president, based on early estimates.

122.3 million voted in 2004.

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