Long lines reported as early voting begins in Florida

Record crowds have shown up at polls in Florida and voters are waiting in line for hours to cast their ballots, according to the Associated Press.

Early voting began on Monday in Florida and continues for two weeks, and already counties are reporting a huge turnout. It's unclear who the heavy early voter turnout will help in the presidential race, although some believe Obama will benefit because his voters tend to be more enthusiastic than McCain's supporters.

Obama holds a slight lead of just 2 points over McCain in the Sunshine state, according to the average of the most recent polls at Real Clear Politics. But McCain holds an even smaller lead in the two newest polls, which, given the margin of error, puts the race as a statistical dead heat.

Florida has 27 electoral votes, 10 percent of the total needed to win the presidency. It is the largest swing state in the election and the place where Democrats and Republicans fought a bitter post-election battle in 2000. Although the U.S. Supreme Court stopped the recounting of ballots in December 2000, the final certified results gave Bush the state by just 537 votes.