esterday's vote in Massachusetts was ''MCAS for adults,'' said Secretary of State William Galvin, with the myriad ballot questions, tiny typeface, and enormous turnout a potential recipe for failure - or breakdown - at the polling stations.
The MCAS analogy is apt in some instances, less so in others. The voting experience was probably about as popular as the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System at 7 last night in the bedroom community of Mansfield, for example, when 250 people were waiting for an hour or more to vote.
Some polling stations in Boston and in communities such as Mansfield, Natick, and Newton had to stay open late to accommodate anyone who got in line by the official closing time of 8 p.m. One Brighton voting place didn't close until about 9:30 p.m.
But most citizens passed this test easily. That was thanks, in large part, to the most ubiquitous accessory of the day: cheat sheets, which many voters used as reminders of how they wanted to vote on the eight statewide ballot questions, and local questions in some municipalities.
Turnout was high, a rarity that led Galvin to dub Nov. 7 ''a great day for democracy.'' By 6 p.m., 60 percent of Boston's registered voters had cast ballots. On Monday, Galvin predicted that 77.5 of registered voters would turn out. Final figures will not be available until today.
Four years ago, 75.1 percent of registered voters cast ballots, in an election that featured a hotly contested senatorial race between Senator John F. Kerry and Governor William F. Weld.
''No one can remember seeing lines like this,'' said Galvin, who pointed to good weather and the close presidential race.
The high participation boosted civic pride. ''I think it's the biggest election I've seen in 50 years,'' said Newton election official Teresa Walsh. ''People here are very good voters.''
Still, the day was not without snags. A few Boston residents who had recently changed addresses were bounced from one polling station to another.
And high voter turnout, of course, had a downside. Back Bay residents voting in Precinct 9 had to wait for an hour or two at the Boston Public Library. Lines snaking through school hallways and along sidewalks were common.
''Oh, that's a very long line,'' said Estelle Lester, 82, who had to wait for about 20 minutes at 10 a.m. in Waltham.
Galvin had worried that voters would have difficulty reading the questions. With eight ballot initiatives, and some of the text quite long, he had to shrink the type size.
But there were few complaints, perhaps because so many people had thought out their answers ahead of time.
''Some people were staying in there a long, long time,'' said Robert Power, 81, of Waltham. ''I don't mean to brag, but I had written down how I wanted to vote, and I could just go zip, zip, zip.''
Globe correspondent Fran Riley contributed to this report.
