Voting problems in Ohio

Via Glenn Beck, TV is reporting voting problems in Ohio. Ohio is leaning toward Bush at the moment, but apparently people have been standing in line for over 12 hours. Expectation is that Ohio will be the state that causes problems this time, as Florida did last time.

I’m working on more solid info, and will post it here as soon as I have it. If it turns out to be a case of the vapors, then so much the better. Cross-posted at geekempire.

Canadian Perspective

The CBC is calling Pennsylvania for Kerry.

CNN: Kerry Takes Pennsylvania

Wow. This is big … and living here, I’m surprised they’ve called it this early. But CNN calls PA for Kerry … and I guess those people still voting are at the margins …

193 EVs for Bush, 133 EVs for Kerry.

People Are Still Voting In PA

CNN reports that people are still voting in Berks, Chester (my home county), and Lackawanna counties. My polling station was nearly empty at 6 … but not so everywhere, clearly.

Also: Absentee votes in Philadelphia will not be counted tonight … the Republicans have challenged to see the absentee lists.

If this is a “must have” state, someone might not get it until … ohh … Friday?

CBS: Republicans suing over Penn. absentee ballots

Over 13,000 absentee ballots are the basis for a lawsuit by Republican lawyers in Penn., according to Russ Mitchell on CBS.

One Polling Location Being Held Open In Pittsburgh

The hold up in PA is for only one pricinct in Pittsburgh, which is being held upon until 9:30 PM EST so people can file provisional ballots. A single polling place …

Poll Deadlines Extended In W. PA

CNN TV: Allegheny County, PA extends voting deadline 90 minutes to 9:30 PM. PA’s not going to come in until late …

Polls to stay open late

WPVI reports LONG lines at many polling locations (TV pictures of long lines shot from a helicopter) 30 minutes before polls close.

Pennsylvania will be keeping the polls open so that anyone in line at 8pm EST will be able to vote.

Chester County Report

I stopped by several local Chester County, PA polling locations today. Authorities said turnout was quite high, and at my local polling location, the wait this morning was 45 minutes. What’s more surprising … by 1 PM over 400 of the roughly 1000 people on the rolls had voted … meaning a turnout much higher than 50% by the end of the night.

Other notables: no exit pollers at either location I visited, although MoveOnPAC had tables outside both stations.

PA AG Says Drudge Story is False

KYW 1060 News Radio in Pennsylvania is reporting that the Drudge story about the 700 votes found in machines before the polls opened never happened.

Will update when online story becomes available.

Update: From Alan, CNN TV had this report: “No factual basis … that’s a Philadelphia election official responding to a Republican Party allegation”

GOP Challenges Questionable Voting Machines

MSNBC TV is reporting that the GOP is taking the matter of the questionable Philadelphia voting machines to court …

AND THE CHAOS BEGINS... [UPDATED -2-]

Drudge has the siren out:

VOTES FOUND ON MACHINES IN PHILLY, BEFORE POLLS OPEN;
Before voting even began in Philadelphia — poll watchers found nearly 2000 votes already planted on machines scattered throughout the city… One incident occurred at the SALVATION ARMY, 2601 N. 11th St., Philadelphia, Pa: Ward 37, division 8… pollwatchers uncovered 4 machines with planted votes; one with over 200 and one with nearly 500… A second location, 1901 W. Girard Ave., Berean Institute, Philadelphia, Pa, had 300+ votes already on 2 machines at start of day… INCIDENT: 292 votes on machine at start of day; WARD/DIVISION: 7/7: ADDRESS: 122 W. Erie Ave., Roberto Clemente School, Philadelphia, Pa.; INCIDENT: 456 votes on machine at start of day; WARD/DIVISION: 12/3; ADDRESS: 5657 Chew Ave., storefront, Philadelphia, Pa… Pennsylvania GOP filing suit in Court of Common Pleas to have machines in question impounded, replaced with machines that did not already have votes on them… MORE… A gun was purposely made visible to scare poll watchers at Ward 30, division 11, at 905 S. 20th St., Grand Court. Police were called and surrounded the location… Developing…

UPDATED 10:28AM

No mention as to who the votes were for…

UPDATE 10:57AM - Drudge now has a page for it.

Update (from Admin)

KYW 1060 News Radio in Pennsylvania is reporting that this story is false and the Attorney General is claiming it never happened. Look for update post soon.

Cross posted here

WMGK "Exit Poll"

Philadelphia radio station WMGK is holding an “exit poll” at the 8th and Vine Street exit from the Vine Street Expressway today. Honk once for Bush, twice for Kerry. They have placed a station worker on the corner to record votes.

They’ve apparently had a few questions:
“If I’m in an unregistered car and I honk, does my vote count?”
“If you hear a honk from a few blocks away, is that an absentee ballot?”

Reportedly, people are unwilling to honk when the light is red - choosing instead to do a rolling vote once the light turns green. Given my experience with Philly traffic and personalities (it gets pretty heated in rush hour traffic), I can understand the desire to avoid confrontation!

The importance of Northeast Pennsylvania

The Scranton Tribune is pushing the importance of Northeast Pennsylvania this morning:

For Mr. Kerry, it could be win here, win Pennsylvania and maybe win the election, according to experts who spoke Monday. His winning still depends on how he does in other swing states. But of the last five Democratic presidents, only Harry S. Truman in 1948 won the presidency without winning Pennsylvania. Republicans had a huge voter registration edge then.

For Mr. Bush, it could be win here, win Pennsylvania and win a second term.

A local politician (my neighbor) has already called me this morning to report huge turnout in this area, which is rich in hunters and gun enthusiasts.

Will this area be the deciding factor for Pennsylvania?

We will see as the day progresses, of course, but the fun part of this article is this silly quote:

“We can’t win the White House without Pennsylvania,” Mr. McAuliffe said during his stop at Universal Printing on Sept. 22, 2003.

Both sides say that. Analysts in both camps say Mr. Bush’s burning desire to win Pennsylvania is all about denying Mr. Kerry the presidency.

O-kay. Back later with local updates as they come in.

"Bush a Cokehead" claims Heinz at Campaign Function

From socialite glitterati magazine Philadelphia, via the New York Post’s Gossip Column :

[Chris] Heinz accused Kerry’s opponents - ‘our enemies’ - of making the race dirty. ‘“We didn’t start out with negative ads calling George Bush a cokehead,” he said, before adding, “I’ll do it now.” Asked later about it, Heinz said, “I have no evidence. He never sold me anything.”

Chris Heinz is Kerry’s stepson, and Theresa Heinz’s son, so a little Over-The-Top partisanship is to be expected.
There’s also this :

“One of the things I’ve noticed is the Israel lobby - the treatment of Israel as the 51st state, sort of a swing state.”

Eeuw.

Advertisement Hell

Spend that ad cash, baby! Empty those coffers! My wife and I are watching a TiVo’d show we recorded during the day today, and we are—literally—seeing campaign ads in every ad slot during every break. Six ads a break, if not more.

It was the same tonight … a constant stream of ads, the dollars flying by like visual confetti.

Ready for this thing to be over, anyone?

Latest Polls: PA Also A Dead Heat

CNN TV on the latest Pennsylvania polls:

• CNN/Gallup: Bush 50%, Kerry 46% (+/-3%)

• Qunnipiac: Bush 47%, Kerry 47% (+/-3%)

Primer for the Pennsylvania Election

Some quick background info on this “Battleground” state:

Pennsylvania has 21 electoral votes, and went for Gore in 2000. Nader is not on the ballot here. Both candidates have been campaigning hard here, with different polls giving varying results, but most are within the margin of error and the state remains a tight race.

The other major race here is for Arlen Specter’s senate seat. Specter won a narrow vicotry over a more conservative opponent in the primaries, but is not facing much of a challenge in the general election. He leads his Democrat opponent Joe Hoffel by several points (50-32), and has been mostly unhindered by third-party conservative candidates, Jim Clymer (Constitution Party, 7%) and Betsy Summers (Libertarian Party). The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a breakdown of each candidate’s policies.

Finally, there has been a bit of scandal in people messing with some Pitt student’s voting registration. However, it does not appear that it will affect this election (as many first thought it would) beyond confusing a few people and making everyone more aware of watching for voting fraud.