Election Day

Via Twitter and from friends, I had collected some turnout numbers this morning from precincts in Northern Virginia that I'll share here.

Turnout in my precinct -- Fairfax County #517 (Willston) was very high -- about 440 by the time I voted at 9:30 a.m. -- or about 45% of 2004's turnout of 976 voters. A poll worker said that 250 people had voted by 8 a.m., or 26% of 2004 turnout. I expect my precinct to go 70-30 for Obama.

A source in downtown Leesburg placed his turnout at 750 of a 2004 total of 1,768 at 11 a.m. That's 43% of 2004 -- roughly the same number as in my precinct, but an hour and a half later. This precinct went narrowly for Bush in '04 and I expect it will go narrowly for Obama this time.

Via Twitter, Justin Hart (who lives in exurban Loudoun) reported that he was around #600 in a precinct that voted 4,015 people in 2004 and went for Bush 60-40. However, his tweet references 3,000 people registered, so it's not outside the realm that the precinct was split. Assuming a turnout of 2,400 people, that would be 25% voted by 9:00 a.m. about what it was at 8 a.m. in my precinct.

I'll submit this FWIW. Based on this and the exit poll debacle, it seems that Democrats vote early in the day, and Republicans later. So we'll see.

If you voted in Virginia today, leave a comment with your voting number and what time you voted. And remember to estimate the total number of people voted in all lines not just yours. You can look up the 2004 turnout figures from your precinct here.

I will have multiple media sites on constant refresh on 2 or 3 monitors tonight, but if you want the real dirt on a state, you're usually better off going to the Secretary of State's website for official returns -- that is, unless they are taken down by the traffic, and the close states probably will be, so I'm posting this list to help get a head start on the traffic. Many state sites also provide county returns in an easy-to-use tabular format that will allow for easy comparison to my 2004 results spreadsheets -- which I'll use to call states tonight.

Here are official election results sites ordered by Eastern time poll closings. Bookmark this post as polls close:

6:00 / 7:00 pm: Indiana
6:00 / 7:00 pm: Kentucky -- because it's first
7:00 pm: Virginia
7:00 pm: Georgia
7:00 / 8:00 pm: Florida
7:30 pm: North Carolina
7:30 pm: Ohio
8:00 pm: Michigan
8:00 pm: Missouri
8:00 pm: Pennsylvania
9:00 pm: Colorado
9:00 pm: Minnesota
9:00 pm: New Mexico
9:00 pm: Wisconsin (no results posted election night)
10:00 pm: Iowa
10:00 pm: Nevada
11:00 pm: California -- because things will just be dying down and ballot propositions
11:00 pm: Washington -- If Gregoire (and Murtha) go down, I will be the happiest man alive even if Dems win a gazillion Senate seats
1:00 am: Alaska

I will awake before dawn on a cool New England morning.

I will do something I am able to do not because of celebrities and media stars, but because generations of American men and women have sacrificed their lives on battlefields both nearby and at the other edge of the world.

I will do something that cannot be taken lightly, as to do so risks having the right taken away forever.

I will choose one man to serve as President. On January 20, 2009, that man will be asked to do one thing. He must promise to protect , preserve and defend the constitution of the United States of America.

There is one man who has sacrificed mightily following that oath. His opponent, on the other hand, seeks to declare many of its freedoms optional in the pursuit of political correctness and income redistribution.

I'm not happy with much of what the Republican party has done in therecent  past. But that's not relevant, really.Making what amounts to a fashion statement to placate the rest of the world's whims is not relevant to that decision, either.

What is relevant is the character, experience and agenda of the man standing before the Chief Justice on January 20.

Before dawn's light breaks over Connecticut, I will cast a vote for John McCain. I hope I am joined by 65 million of my closest friends by the end of the day.

In the cool pre-dawn hours tomorrow I will not worry about what the campaign did wrong, what the press failed to cover or what the party needs to start doing right. I will be in the moment and making a very personal statement.  I hope my statement is shared by the nation.      

Cross-posted from Election Journal.

Election Journal is working with a large number of activists around the country, tracking election fraud and other irregularities. Check out this video of some of our greatest hits from monitoring elections in the primary:

If you see anything at the polling place that raises a question, take a picture and send it to us — even from your camera phone — to votefraud@gmail.com or email us at electionjournal@gmail.com.