Official midterm elections thread

[Thanas]

As the title says. Feel free to express your view and relate your experiences with the midterms.

[Illuminatus Primus]

Duverger's Law blows. I sure love my Eighteenth Century political and electoral constitution.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

A lot of nonsense in Colorado this year, but hopefully most of it will get shot down. Tons of anti-tax crap (didn't Colorado Springs just try that? It didn't go so well for them). Apparently the Senate seat is pretty neck-and-neck. I voted Romanoff in the primaries, but Bennet is about the same so I'm crossing my fingers.

Also voted for my dad for State Board of Education, but it's not looking good.

[Darth Fanboy]

Every candidate in California appears to be as useless as teats on a bull. It is quite depressing really. I wouldn't trust any of them with a fucking nickel.

[AMT]

Voted before getting into work today.

1 vote against Rand Paul, hopefully many more on the way!

[Rogue 9]

Voted on my way home from work. I voted for the Democratic candidates for national offices, but Libertarian for Secretary of State, purely for the reason that Indiana has an obscure election law stating that if a party gets 2% of the vote for Secretary of State, its candidates get to be on the ballots for the SecState's term without having to file petitions, and in the last race for governor the Libertarian candidate was actually sane and had a good education plan.

[GrandMasterTerwynn]

I can either go sit in the cold and wait for the polls to open and fight a horde of old people to vote. Or wait until I get off of work, hurry up to the polls and fight a horde of old people to vote. Either way, I'll do it, since the Republicans running for seats here are all stereotypical teabagger rich white assholes (except for McCain, who's a senile rich white asshole,) and all of them should go. And virtually all the propositions, save the medical marijuana law and maybe a couple others that escape me at the moment, are offensively stupid.

[ThatOneCatC]

As per usual I will stop by the liquor store to buy a bottle of Jack after work. I will then proceed to the polls to cast my vote to keep Kasich as far away from the Governorship as I can. After the baby goes to bed I will crack open the bottle and then either wallow in misery or relaxed contentment depending on what the polls are showing.

[Cecelia5578]

I'm somewhat optimistic about California, mostly because we'll finally have a Democrat in Sacramento, and Boxer should win. Prop 19 would be a nice victory (legalizing marijuana) but I don't think anyone really knows if it'll pass. Prop 25 (gets rid of 2/3 requirement for the legislature to pass a budget) would also be a nice step in the right direction towards getting rid of the most horrific effects of the tax revolt years.

I'll be optimistic and predict that the Dems nationally won't get creamed nearly as badly as people think. Mostly its just a desire to prove the pundits wrong (including Nate Silver, who seems to have been waffling as of late, perhaps trying to cover all bases) but also a gut feeling that things really have been overblown.

Anyhoo, there's no way I'd ever bet anything on that, its just my gut talking.

[Kyler]

Not very happy with the overall election this year. It has been incrediably nasty here. Though I live in Indiana, but I live close enough to Kentucky so I have had to watch the crazy muddslinging between Rand Paul & Jack Conway. Besides we have a Republican crony by the name of Dan Coats running for the Senate. He moved to Indiana just to run for the seat. The thing that really pisses me off about it, is that a lot Republicans in my area hate Coats and know he is not going represent Indiana but the national party. Since they don't like Obama they won't vote against Coats.

[General Zod]

A lot of nonsense in Colorado this year, but hopefully most of it will get shot down. Tons of anti-tax crap (didn't Colorado Springs just try that? It didn't go so well for them). Apparently the Senate seat is pretty neck-and-neck. I voted Romanoff in the primaries, but Bennet is about the same so I'm crossing my fingers.

Also voted for my dad for State Board of Education, but it's not looking good.

Don't forget the stupid personhood for fetuses law Mk. 2. Hopefully it goes the same way it did the last time.

[Dominus Atheos]

ONN

WASHINGTON—Despite the very real threat of electing the 112th Congress, millions of courageous Americans lined up at their polling places today and put their right to vote above the awful possibility of sending a politician to represent them in Washington. "I was afraid the moment I showed up to vote, and now that I've cast my ballot, I'm even more terrified," said Kentucky resident Mary Buchanan, who ran to her car and drove home immediately after exercising her constitutional right. "But I knew I had to face my fear and participate in our democracy, even if my actions could lead to electing another U.S. senator." The day was not without tragedy, however, as the choice between voting for incumbent Harry Reid and challenger Sharron Angle left 20 Americans dead and injured 13 at a Carson City, NV polling place.

[Broomstick]

Voted.

(I have only missed 2 elections since I turned 18 - one due a death in the family, another because I had moved just two weeks prior and was totally unfamiliar with the local issues and people, and thus did not think I could make a rational decision)

Very light turn out at my polling place, but it is early in the day. The local radio says turn out so far overall in the area is good to even excellent compared to past years. Unlike most elections, there wasn't a knot of campaigners just outside the polling place (there is actually a law regulating just how close to the door they can stand so access by votes is not blocked or impeded), but it was also pretty cold this morning, too.

Low turn out = good, my vote counts for more
High turn out = good, because more people are getting involved.

So... it's all good I guess

[Guardsman Bass]

I'm going to vote today after 1 PM, when I get off work. Fortunately, my polling place is literally less than 150 feet from my house.

The Democrat here (Jim Matheson) still seems to be heavily favored to win, but it's closer than in recent years (he's up 53% to Morgan Philpot's 44%). Matheson's a total DINO, but I'll take him over the teabagger Morgan Philpot. Hurray for the lesser of two evils!

Of course, what's more interesting to me is what will happen next year, after the 2010 Census results are counted. More fun with gerrymandering.

Prop 19 would be a nice victory (legalizing marijuana) but I don't think anyone really knows if it'll pass.

A lot of it depends on the turnout of younger voters. There's an age split on the proposition, with younger voters heavily favoring it, and older voters staunchly opposing it.

[TimothyC]

As per usual I will stop by the liquor store to buy a bottle of Jack after work. I will then proceed to the polls to cast my vote to keep Kasich as far away from the Governorship as I can. After the baby goes to bed I will crack open the bottle and then either wallow in misery or relaxed contentment depending on what the polls are showing.

Just wondering, why are you voting against Kasich / voting for Strickland?

Not a judgement, just a question.

(I've voted myself)

[Soontir C'boath]

I'm going to vote around 1PM EST too. It's not too early that the poll workers are still wrestling with the new procedures and machines and not too close when people start to get off work.

Only thing close here seems to be the state attorney general. Cuomo is slated to be a shoe-in over Paladino for governor as well as both US senators for the democrats.

[Liberty]

As per usual I will stop by the liquor store to buy a bottle of Jack after work. I will then proceed to the polls to cast my vote to keep Kasich as far away from the Governorship as I can. After the baby goes to bed I will crack open the bottle and then either wallow in misery or relaxed contentment depending on what the polls are showing.

Can you buy alcohol in Ohio on election day? I know you can't in Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Alaska, South Carolina, Utah, Oklahoma, and a number of other states.

Not very happy with the overall election this year. It has been incrediably nasty here. Though I live in Indiana, but I live close enough to Kentucky so I have had to watch the crazy muddslinging between Rand Paul & Jack Conway. Besides we have a Republican crony by the name of Dan Coats running for the Senate. He moved to Indiana just to run for the seat. The thing that really pisses me off about it, is that a lot Republicans in my area hate Coats and know he is not going represent Indiana but the national party. Since they don't like Obama they won't vote against Coats.

Yet another Hoosier on the board. Interesting. I cast my vote against Coats this morning too, but I hear the odds are he'll win. It's a shame, Ellsworth is a great guy, I used to live in his congressional district.

And don't get me started on Rand Paul...or Kentucky...

[Liberty]

Which elections do you guys feel are the interesting ones to watch? So far I have:

Delaware Senate (Christine O'Donnell's going to lose, and watching should be interesting anyway)

Nevada Senate (My god Angle could win! Polling has been close!)

Kentucky Senate (Rand Paul will probably win, but it's still close)

Alaska Senate (Teabagger Miller and write in candidate Murkowski...could it be more interesting?)

Florida Senate (Another three way race, but the dem is going to lose)

[General Zod]

The local one I'm moderately concerned with is Tancredo vs. Hickenlooper for my state's governor. I'd rather not have a lolbertarian douche in charge of my state, it's shitty enough here as it is. Polling puts Hickenlooper ahead but that doesn't necessarily mean anything.

[Liberty]

Oh yeah, and another one I forgot:

New York State Governor (Paladino v Cuomo)

And of course I'm attached to my congressional race (9th Indiana), but there are way too many congressional races to keep track of them all.

[Stofsk]

When's the results for these sort of elections expected to be called?

[Liberty]

When's the results for these sort of elections expected to be called?

It depends on how close they are. If the results are fairly obvious, it's not uncommon for one candidate to concede anytime after 9:00 pm or so (for example, of 50% of the vote is counted and one candidate has 80% of the vote). Then, in my experience, the votes are generally all counted by midnight, and by around that time at the latest, even if the race was relatively close, one candidate concedes. Finally, if the race is REALLY close, you don't generally find out for a few days because all the absentee ballots have to be counted, and this happens after election day itself. Also, if there is a recount, this takes time. Sometimes we don't learn the results for weeks or even, in extreme cases, months. But this is rare. Usually by midnight someone concedes.

But remember that, like you, we're strung out across a bunch of time zones. So here in the Eastern Time Zone, we won't learn the results of the Alaska senate race until tomorrow, because polls there won't even close until like midnight my time.

There's also exit polls where pollsters ask people outside of the polls who they voted for and then tally that up. These aren't always accurate and created a disaster in 2000 (hell, the state was called by the media before the polls even closed in the panhandle), so people don't trust them so much any more. This leads to another point:

The media will call races for this candidate or that before all the votes are counted and before anyone concedes. They do this based on percentages and which precincts are counted first, etc, and sometimes they are wrong. They're much more careful about it since 2000 because of the mess that created, but they still do it.

[General Zod]

When's the results for these sort of elections expected to be called?

It depends on how close they are. If the results are fairly obvious, it's not uncommon for one candidate to concede anytime after 9:00 pm or so (for example, of 50% of the vote is counted and one candidate has 80% of the vote). Then, in my experience, the votes are generally all counted by midnight, and by around that time at the latest, even if the race was relatively close, one candidate concedes. Finally, if the race is REALLY close, you don't generally find out for a few days because all the absentee ballots have to be counted, and this happens after election day itself. Also, if there is a recount, this takes time. Sometimes we don't learn the results for weeks or even, in extreme cases, months. But this is rare. Usually by midnight someone concedes.

But remember that, like you, we're strung out across a bunch of time zones. So here in the Eastern Time Zone, we won't learn the results of the Alaska senate race until tomorrow, because polls there won't even close until like midnight my time.

There's also exit polls where pollsters ask people outside of the polls who they voted for and then tally that up. These aren't always accurate and created a disaster in 2000 (hell, the state was called by the media before the polls even closed in the panhandle), so people don't trust them so much any more. This leads to another point:

The media will call races for this candidate or that before all the votes are counted and before anyone concedes. They do this based on percentages and which precincts are counted first, etc, and sometimes they are wrong. They're much more careful about it since 2000 because of the mess that created, but they still do it.

There's also voter eligibility challenges. Given the teabaggers screeching I'd expect them to delay things as much as possible to kill as many votes against them as they can.

[Broomstick]

Only thing close here seems to be the state attorney general. Cuomo is slated to be a shoe-in over Paladino for governor as well as both US senators for the democrats.

Oh, thank god for that! Paladino is scary - I asked my dad and sister to vote against him, though, of course, they'll make their own decisions.

As per usual I will stop by the liquor store to buy a bottle of Jack after work. I will then proceed to the polls to cast my vote to keep Kasich as far away from the Governorship as I can. After the baby goes to bed I will crack open the bottle and then either wallow in misery or relaxed contentment depending on what the polls are showing.

Can you buy alcohol in Ohio on election day? I know you can't in Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Alaska, South Carolina, Utah, Oklahoma, and a number of other states.

Actually, they just changed the law - as of this election you CAN buy alcohol in Indiana. Given the choices we have, a good stiff drink might be in order....

When's the results for these sort of elections expected to be called?

After the polls close for the day. So, for example, in my state the polls close at 6pm, so the official results will come after that time, usually an hour or two while everything is counted and such. If it is a very tight race, or there are questions about the results, the official result may come days or even weeks later - you may recall the US Presidential Election of 2000 when we all woke up the next day and had no idea whether Bush or Gore had won. It wasn't until December 12, more than a month later, that a winner was declared so it is possible for delays to be significant, though that was the worst case so far.

In most cases the official results are known by 10 or 11 pm local time.

[RedImperator]

Polls start closing at 7 PM eastern. Nothing will be called before then.

For all the election year hoo-ha, my own race is fuck-off boring. I'm still registered in 1st New Jersey, so my congressional race is between a longtime Democratic incumbent who will win easily and a bunch of sacrificial mooks. No Senate election, no gubernatorial election. Special elections for state senator and assemblyman, in which I will vote Democrat, in order to help make governor fat fuck's life a little more difficult. Two county freeholders, and a completely sane proposition about how payroll taxes are allocated.