Mysterious hit-and-miss glitches cost some voters in Miami-Dade and Broward counties the opportunity to vote Tuesday in the presidential primaries.

In some cases, it might have been voter error -- people who failed to register properly as a Democrat or Republican. In others, the problem might be attributed to forms mailed in November to one million Miami-Dade voters, state officials said, forms that might have confused voters about the party affiliation on their records.

In several cases, however, voters claimed that the failure involved poorly trained poll workers who apparently activated machines with the wrong ballots and were confounded by the election.

Among the affected: Miami Herald theater critic Christine Dolen, who voted at Precinct T-010 in Davie -- or at least tried. When she checked in at the polling place, Dolen said, she received confirmation of her status as a registered Democrat. She voted on the property-tax amendment and then, to her dismay, discovered that the ballot for the Democratic primary never appeared on her machine.

VOTE `DOESN'T COUNT'

'I told the woman who had activated the machine for me, and she said, `You already voted -- sorry,' '' Dolen said. 'Then I found the polling place supervisor, who said, `I think that's all Democrats get to vote on, since the presidential vote doesn't count.' ''

That is not true. The national Democratic Party, punishing Florida for its early primary, stripped the state of all of its convention delegates, but party members were encouraged to make their selections anyway.

''I'm furious,'' Dolen said.

The number of people affected by the errors could not be determined, but similar accounts arrived at The Miami Herald from at least 20 voters, most of them residents of Miami-Dade.

All said they were registered as Democrats or Republicans, but ended up casting ballots as unaffiliated voters -- unable to choose a candidate in the primary.

Robert Spagnola, 52, of Miami Beach, ''a lifelong Democrat'' with a registration card to prove it, said he excitedly signed in to vote for ''a change in America'' but was surprised not to see the presidential candidates' names.

`IT WAS OVER'

''The woman next to me said out loud that she couldn't see the slate of candidates on her machine,'' he said. 'Someone told us to push the `Vote' button and the names would come up. Well, when we both did, we got the 'Thank you for voting' sign. It was over.''

Spagnola said poll workers told him that he had voted as an independent and could not vote again. ''I was livid, and the girl next to me began crying,'' he said. Miami-Dade election officials acknowledged that he was registered as a Democrat and could not explain what went wrong.

''Before they hit the button and walk away, they have to make sure they have the right ballot,'' said Christina White, assistant to the election supervisor. ``We suggest they hit the preview button or ask a poll worker for help.''

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