PHILADELPHIA -- She came on a stretcher straight from a dialysis treatment at Lankeneau Hospital and she was ready to vote.

"I'm here for Hillary, and I hope everyone else is, too," Mary Hilferty, 85, announced as her gurney rolled into Engine 54 Fire House in the Overbrook Farm section of West Philadelphia, her polling precinct. "There are some black people who are ready to be president, but [Illinois Sen. Barack Obama] is not one of them. [New York Sen. Hillary Clinton] has made some goofy mistakes, but she's a woman and she thinks like a lady."

She turned to scold the unregistered 20-year-old emergency medical technician who wheeled her in: "My mother came from Iraq, my father came from Iran and I was born in Egypt, countries were you couldn't vote. It's your right here to vote, a God-given opportunity," she told him.

Polling places statewide were flooded with longtime voters like Mrs. Hilferty, who never miss an election, and thousands of first-time voters inspired to turn out for the historic choice between a black man and a white woman for the Democratic nomination. It's also a rare opportunity for Pennsylvania, which holds a relatively late primary, to have a voice on the nomination.

Obama campaign volunteers, such as Chelli Devadutt, 63, of New York City, hit the streets of Philadelphia all day trying to round up every last vote.

The region is crucial for both candidates. The five-county area includes 35 percent of the state's registered Democrats and both candidates campaigned hard here.

"People understand that this election is historic," said Lorie Miles, 50, a committee person working the polls at Barratt Middle School in South Philadelphia, an area that seemed to be leaning heavily toward Mr. Obama.

"He's talking about change and I think we do need change. We need more emphasis but on the working class and middle class," she said.

Obama signs, stickers and T-shirts seemed to be everywhere in Center City and South Philadelphia, while Clinton campaign materials were scarce.

Support was more visible for her in the suburbs.

Both campaigns had a strong presence outside the Narberth Borough Hall in Montgomery County, a longtime Republican stronghold that now leans Democratic, thanks to party switching in the weeks before yesterday's primary.

In Delaware County, busloads of Haverford College students and busloads of residents of the Quadrangle retirement community converged at Coopertown School in Narberth, where both groups vote.

"There are definitely a lot of people coming out for both. The young people are going for Obama and the older people tend to go for Hillary," said Guy Paolino, who was outside the polls rounding up votes for his sister, Republican state Senate candidate Lisa Paolino.

Nearby at Loomis Elementary School in Broomall, some Republican voters didn't understand that their presidential choice was between Rep. Ron Paul of Texas and Arizona Sen. John McCain.

"We had a lot of Republican ladies get very upset because they couldn't vote for Hillary. Some of them are writing her name in on the Republican ballot anyway," said poll worker Maggie Wright, 58.

In West Goshen, Chester County, voters were divided, said campaign volunteer Barbara Cooper, who was on the ballot as a Clinton delegate.

"It's going to be close," Ms. Cooper said. There are a lot of younger people voting for the first time and those are the people [Mr. Obama] has touched. They still have a lot of faith that they can move mountains, but you have to have a person in there who knows how to move the mountain."