The number of early voters in Florida surpassed one million over the weekend, state officials said, as long lines continued to cluster in South Florida and beyond for the historic presidential race.

At times Monday -- the start of the second week of early voting -- the lines translated into four hours at some sites, including Miramar City Hall and the West Kendall Regional Library.

The state didn't track daily early voting numbers in 2004. But Miami-Dade and Broward elections officials say they expect the early voting turnout to surpass that of the last presidential election.

During the first week of early voting in 2004 in Broward, nearly 56,000 had voted -- or just under 8 percent of registered voters. Last week, about 90,000 had voted early in the county through Sunday -- or nearly 9 percent of registered voters.

In 2004, more than 244,000 voters cast ballots during all of early voting in Miami-Dade. During the first week this year, more than 112,400 residents cast early ballots.

But the second week is historically busier, said Miami-Dade county spokeswoman Marie Bertot.

''There is a lot of excitement this year,'' she said.

About 100 Barack Obama supporters marched two blocks down Miami Gardens Drive to the North Dade Regional Library Monday, where early voting lines in a predominantly black area have been among the longest in the county. The march included a drum-line performance and a variation of the Electric Slide that supporters called the ``Barack and Michelle Obama Rock.''

Among the marchers: 18-year-old Kiesha Jones of Opa-locka.

''I've never seen anything like this before,'' Jones said.

Lines fluctuated throughout the day in both counties. By 4 p.m. most waits were between 1 ½ hours and 2 ½ hours long.

At Miramar City Hall, voters had lawn chairs slung over their shoulders and brought laptops and magazines.

Candidates have taken advantage of the crowds to give last-minute pitches .

Broward judicial candidate Paul Eichner said after seeing the massive turnout for early voting, he bought tens of thousands of extra fliers.

''This is a last-minute opportunity to have face-to-face contact,'' he said on a stop in Miramar.

His opponent, Merrilee Ehrlich, asked voters questions from Trivial Pursuit at a site in Coral Springs Monday. ''It's just to entertain them and lighten the mood,'' she said.

Rose Rowe, campaigning on behalf of Lauderdale Lakes mayoral candidate Barrington Russell, said the last-minute glad-handing makes a difference, especially in the seemingly forgotten local elections.

'Everybody just has it in mind, `I'm going to vote for the president,' but there are so many other things [on the ballot,]'' she said.

Some voters in Miami-Dade were surprised to learn that early voting doesn't begin until 11 a.m. this week -- four hours later than weekdays last week.

On the county's website, the schedule is clear: This week, the polls are open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, then for four hours Saturday and Sunday.

In Broward, the schedule remains the same as last week: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Next Sunday is the last day of early voting in both counties.

Broward is posting the information online at www.broward.org/earlyvoting.

Miami-Dade wait times are posted at http://www.miamidade.gov/

elections//wait-times.asp

''We are fighting hard for every vote,'' said Katie Gordon, spokeswoman for the Republican Party of Florida. ``Republicans are out-spent, out-staffed, out-registered and out-advertised in Florida.''

Miami Herald staff writer Marc Caputo contributed to this report.

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