Voter Turnout Brisk in Ind., N.C.

Voters in Indiana and North Carolina streamed into polling places today to choose between Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) as their protracted battle for the Democratic presidential nomination entered its final month of primaries.

Turnout was reported brisk in both states, the largest remaining on a calendar of nominating contests that culminate June 3.

At stake were a total of 187 pledged delegates to the Aug. 25-28 Democratic National Convention in Denver -- 115 of them from North Carolina and 72 from Indiana. Obama currently leads Clinton in total delegates by 1,745 to 1,608, according to an Associated Press tally, with 2,025 delegate votes needed to secure the nomination.

Obama, leading in the polls in North Carolina, hoped to widen his delegate lead and contain the damage from recent controversial remarks by his former pastor. Clinton, who won Pennsylvania's April 22 primary, was looking to capitalize on a string of victories in large battleground states with a strong showing in North Carolina and a win in Indiana, where polls showed a tight race.

But with neither candidate likely to reach the nominating threshold by the end of the primary season, Democrats were bracing for a battle at the convention, where the votes of nearly 800 unpledged "superdelegates" were expected to be decisive. In part, the competition in the remaining primaries was aimed at winning the support of undecided superdelegates.

Polls opened at 6 a.m. EDT in Indiana and were scheduled to close at 6 p.m. Polling hours in North Carolina were from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. EDT.

Obama, 46, made last-minute appeals for support in Indiana before a scheduled flight later in the day to Raleigh, N.C., where he planned to attend an election night party at North Carolina State University. Clinton, 60, was holding her election night event in Indianapolis.

Obama began his day by surprising patrons of a restaurant in Greenwood, an Indianapolis suburb. The freshman senator from neighboring Illinois walked around shaking hands, then sat at a counter and ate an omelet for breakfast. He predicted a close finish in the state.

"I feel good," the Indianapolis Star quoted him as saying. "We campaigned hard all over this state. I think it's going to be close. I don't know just yet what's going to happen."

Obama later greeted voters at Hinkle Field House on the campus of Butler University in Indianapolis, where part of the basketball movie "Hoosiers" was filmed.

Clinton, meanwhile, used the renowned Indianapolis Motor Speedway, site of the Indianapolis 500 on May 25, as a backdrop for some remarks about her own race. But she declined to make any predictions about the primaries.

"Every race is filled with the unexpected," Clinton said. "You never know what's going to happen from day to day."