US Election 2008; Huge Turnout at Polls, Live Blogging and Predictions

The 2008 U.S. presidential election has generated interest all over the world and hordes of international journalist have descended to cover the gran finale. It is the greatest show on the earth at the moment and media outlets are not leaving any stone unturned to cover any theatrics. International media outlets have kept pace by providing in-depth coverage of the campaigns for readers at home.

As of this writing calls are still being made to the Western states.  Earlier at 7:02 PM, the GOTV calling goal had increased to 1.2 million calls.  It is the last push for the volunteers to be a part of a historic election.

A somber mood here at the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix, where Republicans, dressed in their best Indian summer cocktail attire, are gathering to hear John McCain concede to Barack Obama. Jim Woolsey was seated below a mounted television in a crowded bar when Fox News projected Obama as the winner of Ohio. The crowd let out an audible gasp and lots of head-shaking ensued.

Fifteen minutes later, after many of those seated on an outside patio had ordered another round of drinks (if you are drinking beer, you are drinking a Budweiser product) an effusive young McCain supporter was watching an outdoor television with strange attentiveness. Someone asked him what he was doing. "I'm waiting for them to reverse Ohio," he said with misplaced optimism.

McCain advisers I've talked to have been matter-of-fact about the situation. They're plainly disappointed, but they're sad about it in much the way that one might expect at the loss of a loved one after a long illness. It was certainly expected.

John King can't get McCain to 270 with his magic map, even with a *very* generous sweep

I'm literally standing on main st now and it feels great, people look happy, like sept 10th happy

It's a mess! As part of a group of NYU students who ventured to Times Square in search of a fun evening, it definitely wasn't worth it. People were crammed right next to each other, so close that nobody could hardly sit down. The screen was visible (a plus) but people got up every ten seconds so not exactly worth it.

The atmosphere was great--every single time Obama was on the screen cheers arose--but not exactly worth sitting through when one could watch the exact same program at home. CNN interviewed various members of the audience, but asked questions such as "What will your face look like if McCain wins?" Not exactly the best question, if you ask me.

Glenn Greenwald (9:23 p.m. EST): Fox just projected Ohio for Obama -- right when Brit Hume was standing next to Karl Rove and Rove was explaining how McCain can't lose any more battleground states. "No Republican has ever been elected without winning the state of Ohio," Rove pouted.

Florida looks good for Obama, too -- would be very appropriate if the two states that put George Bush into the White House are turned blue.

It's virtually impossible to see how Obama loses now.

David Talbot (9:24 p.m. EST): Priceless. A funereal Brit Hume and equally somber Karl Rove call Ohio for Obama. "No Republican has ever won the White House without winning Ohio," observes a deeply gloomy Rove.

Although battleground states like Virginia and Indiana are still too close to call, Obama’s core strategy of carrying John Kerry’s states and tacking on a few extras appears to be in the bag. While there are no surprises among the states he has won thus far, his early performance has put to rest fears by paranoid Democrats that his comfortable lead in the polls was greatly inflated.

With a win in one or two states that George W. Bush won in 2004, Obama will have wrapped up this election. Based on the last round of polls before the election, Obama is already poised to win at least 264 electoral votes comfortably. A win in Colorado or another Bush state will push him over the edge.

My vote counted today at 7:00 a.m. Remembering the 2000 and 2004 elections, and the primaries of 2008, the question now is whether my vote will be counted tonight once the polls close.

It is not that we must doubt the democratic process. It is just that we must be alert to protect our rights and freedoms.

One of the smaller pleasures about voting is getting that sticker that says, "I voted!" that lets everyone know, "Hey, I rocked the vote." But there seems to be a severe lack of stickers out there, so how are we to display to the whole world, proudly, that we voted? This is my first general election in Chicago and I'm shocked that there are no stickers here. If the South did one thing right, it's the "I voted" stickers. (Well, and S.E.C. football). Anyway, our friend Scott Smith over at Time Out Chicago has a solution for those of you itching for a sticker. All you'll need is your receipt, a mailing label, some scissors and a little glue. Get clicking and get sticking.

Cuba's former communist leader spoke out about the US elections today, praising Obama as "more intelligent" than the "old, bellicose" Republican John McCain.  He also stated that he was officially neutral in the US election.

Yep! An Obama win will signal the end to self-determination, self-reliance, and the uniqueness that has made our country the envy of the rest of the world for the better part of 100 years.

It seems that things could possibly get dicey in Philadelphia before Election Day comes to a close. There is one major question that needs to be asked: Was there any voter intimidation at the polling area or not?

It's hard for the GOP and Fox News to give up on whipping up fears that Obama is going to set up a black dictatorship in America where sundry pimps and gangbangers will replace the civil service and institute a reign of racial terror and compulsory miscegenation. Fox and the McCain campaign are pushing hard on this story of two men outside a polling place in Philly dressed in Black Panther garb. People affiliated with the McCain campaign showed up, to photograph or possibly provoke an incident. The police were called. One of the two guys was asked to leave; and he left. The other guys turned out to be an official poll watcher. That was probably the best resolution. As near as we can tell there's all sort of misinformation being disseminated about whites being prevented from voting, etc. We talked to an Obama campaign volunteer who saw the whole thing. And you can see her account here. This is just a kinder, gentler version of the Ashley Todd 'Carved B' mumbojumbo, another desperate Republican attempt to whip up racial hysteria to give them hope of winning the election.

There are reports of very long lines at a University of South Florida precinct where students tried to make a lot of address changes and hundreds of voters in Hillsborough County received an incomplete ballot that was missing a page. Browning says his staff has contacted the Hillsborough elections office about that problem, but he says ultimately the ballot’s layout is the responsibility of the supervisor.

The state continued to experience record turnout, despite bad weather and equipment problems at some polling places. At one point, one Chesapeake precinct had as many as 1,000 people in line, accounting for 50 percent of the registered voters of the precinct.

We have two choices now. Barack Obama who is slightly supporting the Palestinians and their promising state. In the other side, we have one of the biggest new Bushes, John McCain, whose stances are more extreme than Bush and all the new conservatives in the US.

Recently, it is revealed that the state of Ohio is having its own incident of voting issues at the polls. This incident comes from Cincinnati, Ohio. The incident stems from the confusion of standards for identification.

In the first major election day hiccup, some voting machines in Richmond, Va., appeared to be recording a different choice than the one made by the voter, said Champ.

"In other words, you press the Democratic button and Republican comes up on the screen and vice versa," he said.

The problem prompted polling stations in Richmond to switch to paper ballots.

I was really worried that I would have to write him in...here's more.

The best-known candidates for the presidential U.S. election have won presence in the emissions of our country, being "part" circumstantial dee the lives of thousands of Chilean citizens.

A voter hotline set up by CNN to monitor polling problems received 56,000 calls, 22,000 of them being complaints. The most common problems concerned voter registration, absentee ballots going astray and voting machine malfunctions.

Most calls came from New York, New Jersey, Virginia and Florida.

There have been voting glitches, wrong voter lists in Kansas City. One watchdog group says it's gotten thousands of complaints.

"Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey problems are so widespread, election officials will have to take action," said Jon Greenbaum of Election Protection.

In Virginia, there were reports of problems such as voting machine breakdowns and issues with optical scanners being unable to read rain-drenched ballots.

I was wondering how long it would be before the story's begin flowing in, and here is the beginning of a long day from Peter Overby  at NPR.

The first area is at Pennypacker Park Elementary School in Burlington County, New Jersey. So far, it has been reported that the voting machines are broken.

As Americans get ready to cast their votes on Tuesday morning in US elections to choose their 44th president, Democratic candidate Barack Obama has emerged as the preferred candidate on election day over Republican John McCain.

Prediction #1

No "battleground" states will develop this evening. No battle will arise, the fight has long been over.

You have Obama Barack versus John McCain in the most anticipated election in history.

Exit poll information in the hands of trained professionals is perfectly fine," said Sam Feist, CNN's political director. "Exit poll information in the hands of the general public, who may not understand what it means or stands for, can be dangerous."

Around 9 a.m., other excited and anxious Obama supporters rolled in and by 11:30, a group of nearly 80 people had assembled along Congress Parkway. Follow updates from the front of the line on Twitter and here on NowPublic all day!

McCarthy, R-California, says absentee ballots mailed from war zones are not getting to county registrars fast enough to be legally counted.

"With all the modernization that we have, we should be able to move these ballots, track them at the same time, bring the modernization and technology we have today to make sure our heroes across this world get treated fairly," he said.

Members of the military who are posted abroad must vote by absentee ballot in the state where they last lived before shipping out. Every state has a system for distributing and counting these absentee ballots, and these systems feature a wide range of rules and requirements.

The Voting Rights Project of the ACLU is dedicated to providing citizens with information and assistance in exercising their right to vote! We are urging citizens to ACT this election year. For more information or to voice a voting rights complaint, call 1-877-523-2792, email us at vrp@aclu.org, or click below. Know your voting rights. Act!

Since most Americans vote in the US election on November 4, we at NowPublic thought we would gather as much information we could on where to vote and other polling resources.