The economy is the big question mark in Tuesday's election, as Ohio voters grappling with 10 percent unemployment decide whether to reverse their long-held antigambling stance for the promise of casino jobs.

A proposed constitutional amendment to allow casinos in Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Toledo has dominated the campaign season. More was spent in the state on the gambling proposal than during 2008's hotly contested presidential contest.

It is the fifth gambling proposal Ohio voters have seen in 20 years. They roundly rejected the others. Ohio would become the 39th state to legalize casinos if the measure were approved.

Voters trickling in to a polling place in the Cincinnati suburb of Anderson Township on Tuesday morning included Elizabeth Groen, 56, who said she voted in favor of the casino issue.

"They are going everywhere else. I think it's time that Ohio gets on board," she said.

At the same polling location, Cathy Dasenbrock, a 40-year-old scientist, said she voted against the casinos out of concern they would bring crime and because she said she was unimpressed with the promises of casino jobs.

"They are low-paying jobs, and I think we would be better to bring manufacturing jobs into our area," Dasenbrock said.

Voting was quiet around Ohio with few problems being reported. Voting at some precincts in Dayton was delayed by 15 minutes when poll workers arrived late, but no one was turned away.

Two other statewide issues were also on the ballot.

Issue 1 would paynfair.

An Ohio Newspaper poll conducted by the University of Cincinnati's Institute for Policy Research found that 59 percent of registered voters supported the casino proposal -- Issue 3 on the ballot -- leading into the final push to Election Day. Political experts attribute the support to voters' desperate hope for jobs.

Republican U.S. Sen. George Voinovich, a former Ohio governor, made two well-publicized pleas to Ohio voters to reject the issue. Standing aside influential church leaders, Voinovich made biblical references to the evils gambling can bring to families and the economy.

The University of Cincinnati jobs study predicted 39,251 jobs and $4 billion in overall economic impact from the four casino sites. The social costs of expanded gambling were not considered.

Of the total jobs predicted, 15,807 would be permanent, the study said. Of those, 7,500 would come from direct in-state employment at casinos. A quarter of the casino jobs would pay $27,500 a year or more, and 2 percent -- 150 jobs -- would pay $80,000-a-year executive salaries.

The average casino wage, according to the study, would be $26,300 a year, about $13,700 lower than the most recently calculated state median.