For live election updates and interesting snippets of information, stay tuned in to our 2012 election blog.
Voting Information: To find your polling booth location, visit your state’s Secretary of State website.
Articles to Read: Obama, Romney Focus on Voter Turnout in Final Hours * Sandy Spurs Voters, But Many Displaced * How to Find Your Polling Site in NYC * Congressional Races Remain Close * Final Push for Tuesday’s Election Bid * Bloomberg Endorses Obama on Climate Change Stance * Presidential Campaigns Head into Great Unknown * Presidential Candidates Dodge Key Issue on China Trade * Iowa Officials Say Election Observers Will Be Arrested * Tight Election Could See Repeat of 2000 * A Presidential Debate With a Difference *
For more articles, visit our special election topic.
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2:15 a.m. Wednesday -- Colorado, Washington Legalize Marijuana
Voters in some states on Tuesday were asked to approve a ballot measure to legalize marijuana.
Colorado and Washington State voters voted yes, paving the way for the state to legalize the drug for recreational use, and tax it and regulate it in a way similar to alcohol.
But there’s a buzz killer: marijuana is still federally illegal. “The voters have spoken and we have to respect their will,” commented Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper. “This will be a complicated process, but we intend to follow through.
“That said, federal law still says marijuana is an illegal drug, so don’t break out the Cheetos or Goldfish too quickly.”
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11:30 p.m. Tuesday -- Networks Proclaim Obama the Winner
President Barack Obama essentially secured his reelection bid on Tuesday night.
Obama won the key battleground state of Ohio, early exit polls show, as well as other key states including New Hampshire, Wisconsin, and Iowa.
“We’re all in this together. That’s how we campaigned,” Obama said via his Twitter account. He added, “This happened because of you. Thank you.”
After numerous polls, it was projected that Romney would have needed to take a number of these key swing states to win.
The president also took California, which has a whopping 55 votes, as well as Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii. He also took much of the Midwest and all of the northeast United States, including New York.
Romney, however, had a strong showing in much of the southeastern United States as well as Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, Texas, Missouri, and others. He took the battleground state of North Carolina.
Florida was the most hotly-contested state and if Obama’s victory was not so decisive, the outcome of the state risked repeating similar events in 2000 when there was a mass recount of votes for Al Gore and George W. Bush.
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11:08 p.m. Tuesday -- Excitement Builds in Obama Camp
Punctuated by screams every time numbers increased for Obama, Election Night fever was palpable at Lakeside Center, McCormick Place, in Chicago, according to Epoch Times reporter Shar Adams.
With a massive stage draped with massive curtains and flags, huge screens down each side highlighting poignant moments and people in the Obama journey, the vast conference hall is filling up with supporters.
The crowd became deafening as CNN’s Wolf Blitzer announced that California, Wisconsin, Hawaii, and Washington State had gone to Obama.
In electoral votes, that put Obama at 238 to Mitt Romney’s 191.
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10:57 p.m. Tuesday -- Senate Race in North Dakota Too Close to Call, Democrat Slightly Leading with Nearly 50 Percent of Vote In
The closest race is in the state of North Dakota right now. It is the race for the Senate, which is nearly tied with 48 percent of the vote in, according to CNN.
Republicans are projected to win by wide margins in North Dakota in the presidential race, the House race, and the governer’s spot, leaving Democrats’s sole chance to be the Senate seat.
State attorney general Heidi Heitkamp has a slight advantage over new Republican congressman from the class of 2010, Rick Berg. Heitkamp has 51 percent of the vote, and Berg has 49 percent. Minutes ago, those numbers were tied 50-50.
The seat was held by longtime Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and strong supporter of the Simpson-Bowles plan, which was the result of a study ordered by President Barack Obama to improve the nation’s fiscal health.
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10:40 p.m. Tuesday -- Montana Democrat Defends Senate Seat
Current Montana Sen. Jon Tester successfully defended his Senate seat. The Democratic incumbent won 57 percent in today’s election, according to preliminary results by AP.
Tester, Senator since 2007, owns an organic farm and likes to portray himself as a hands-on politician who stays clear of party politics. He ventured into politics in the late 1990s, serving the state senate for two terms.
Still last week, polls gave the Republican challenger Denny Rehberg good chances of unseating Tester. Rehberg is a former Lieutenant Governor and Montana’s single House member.
According to USA today, the Senate Race was Montana’s most expensive ever, with $40 spent, mostly on attack ads.
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10:35 p.m. Tuesday -- Democrat Elizabeth Warren Projected to Win Massachusetts
CNN has projected Democrat Elizabeth Warren to win over Republican incumbent Scott Brown in a high-profile Senate contest that is billed an important race to help Democrats retain control of the Senate.
The Washington Post credited heavy turnout across Massachusetts Tuesday morning, and state officials said it was possibly a record turnout.
The Senate race registered the largest campaign spend in Massachusetts history, according to the Washington Post.
A Harvard Law professor, Warren gained national attention for having conceived of and established a consumer protection agency for President Barack Obama in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. She was also appointed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to chair a five-member panel tasked with overseeing the implementation of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), which was authorized to spend $700 billion to stabilize the American financial system.
Warren’s role as special advisor to the secretary of the treasury for the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau became highly controversial when Republicans refused to allow her to run the agency.
Republican incumbent Sen. Brown won his seat in a special election in 2010 to fill the seat held by the late Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy.
With over 50 percent of the votes in, Warren has 53 percent of the vote, while Brown has 47 percent, according to CNN.
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10:45 p.m. Tuesday -- Romney Wins All Five Votes in Nebraska
Nebraska and Maine are two states that split Electoral College votes. Obama also won all four votes in Main, exit polls show.
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10:44 p.m. Tuesday -- Romney Wins Arizona, Gains 11 Electoral Votes
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10:23 p.m. Tuesday -- Connecticut’s Chris Murphy Gives Victory Speech
Democratic Senator-elect Chris Murphy defeated Linda McMahon with 53 percent of the vote to her 45 percent, MSNBC reported.
In his victory speech, Murphy evoked his mother, who he said grew up in a housing project in New Britain. He said that his race was about a promise that America made to her: People should get the tools they need to make better lives.
“Health care should be a human right,” said Murphy. Companies should not outsource jobs to other countries, but they should instead bring jobs back to America, according to Murphy.
“It’s time to invest in our country. Time to bring our soldiers back from Afghanistan,” said Murphy, wearing a wide smile. He gave up his House seat to run for the Senate seat.
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10:12 p.m. Tuesday -- Exit Poll Update
Exit polls released by The Associated Press show that Romney took Utah with six electoral votes, while longtime Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah secured another term. Romney also won Montana, which has three electoral votes.
According to AP, Obama won New Hampshire, a key battleground state. Other exit polls are showing that he also took Wisconsin and New Mexico. New Mexico has five electoral votes.
NPR and Fox News are showing that Romney and Obama have 163 and 162 votes, respectively.
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9:58 p.m. Tuesday -- Donnelly Wins Senate Seat Over Mourdock in Indiana
Indiana’s three-candidate Senate race found Democrat Joe Donnelly the winner by 48 percent, with Republican Richard Mourdock at 46 percent. Libertarian Andrew Horning followed at 6 percent.
Donnelly served three terms in Congress, representing Indiana’s 2nd District, and he is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, which is a group of Democratic U.S. congressional representatives that consider themselves moderates.
Mourdock had a challenging campaign after a video was televised that gained national attention, in which he said that pregnancies from rape are “something God intended to happen.”
Former Republican Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar held the state senate seat since 1977. Mourdock replaced Lugar in the race for Indiana’s Senate.
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9:53 p.m. Tuesday -- McCaskill Leading Akin in Missouri
With an estimated 10 percent of the votes in, CNN is showing incumbent democrat Sen. Claire McCaskill leading Republican challenger Todd Akin 54 percent to 40 percent in the Missouri senate race.
In August, Akin set off a political firestorm when he said that a woman was not likely to get pregnant from rape, because “if it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”
Akin’s comments drew criticism from women’s groups, unions, and Republicans, including calls for Akin to withdraw from the race.
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9:42 p.m. Tuesday -- King Wins Maine
Angus King has won Republican Olympia Snowe’s senate seat in Maine, MSNBC reported.
The popular former governor is an Independent.
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9:30 p.m. Tuesday -- Candidates Running Neck-and-Neck
With polls open in just nine remaining states, the two presidential candidates are dead even at 153 electoral votes apiece, according to Fox News.
Recent projected wins for President Obama include Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, and now all eyes are on Ohio and Florida.
With the president winning Michigan as expected, this is the first time since the 1970s that both a presidential candidate and a vice presidential candidate, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan respectively, have lost in their home states.
North Carolina and Virginia are still too close to call, accord
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9:21 p.m. Tuesday -- Florida Race Extremely Close
Of all the battleground states, Florida is looking to have the tightest margin of victory for either candidate.
With around 70 percent of the votes counted, Fox News is showing that Florida is only separated by 200 to 300 votes.
North Carolina also appears to be extremely close, with major media outlets showing the candidates neck and neck.
But in Ohio, another state both candidates frequented, it appears that Obama has taken a lead, albeit a relatively slim one. Fox News and NPR shows that he has a 54-percent lead over Romney’s 45 percent. CBS News has a similar figure.
Obama also took the electoral vote in Pennsylvania, Fox and NPR are showing.
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9:14 p.m. Tuesday -- Nelson Holds Onto Senate Seat in Florida
In Florida’s senate race, senior Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson defeated Republican challenger Congressman Connie Mack, winning 56 percent of the votes, with Mack bringing in 42 percent, according to CBS news reports.
Nelson was first elected to the House in 1978 and won a senate seat in 2000. In 1986, Nelson was the second member of Congress to fly in space on the Space Shuttle Columbia.
In House races in Florida, the vast majority of winners are Republican. Republican incumbent Ileana Ros-Lehtinen won Florida’s 27th district with 61 percent, while Democratic challenger Manny Yevancey earned only 37 percent, according to NBC news reports.
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9:13 p.m. Tuesday -- Exit Poll Update
Obama has now taken New York, Michigan, and New Jersey, as well as 123 votes in the Electoral College, according to CBS News, Fox News, NBC News, and NPR. NBC News reports that Obama has 128 votes.
Romney took North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas, exit polls show. He now has 154 votes in the Electoral College.
Colorado, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Florida are still too close to call, according to NPR.
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9:08 p.m. Tuesday -- Murphy Wins Race Over McMahon
Three-term congressman Chris Murphy has defeated Linda McMahon for the Connecticut senate seat, according to The Associated Press.
McMahon was formerly the head of World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. This was her second bid for the seat.
Between her two campaigns, she spent nearly $100 million. Just five weeks ago, polls showed McMahon ahead of Murphy. McMahon encouraged Obama Democrats to split the ticket, knowing that Obama would likely sweep the state. Scott Brown, Republican candidate in Massachusetts, used the same tactic: his campaign materials encouraged voters to vote for Obama and Brown.
The hope that the Republican Party would take over the Senate is considerably diminished with the Democratic senate victory in Connecticut.
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8:58 p.m. Tuesday -- Ohio Judge Denies Restraining Order Over Voting Software
Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted issued a statement on Election Day supporting a judge’s decision to deny Green Party candidates’s request to block the use of certain voting software.
Husted wrote: “This suit was completely baseless and caused unnecessary concern and confusion. All Ohioans’ votes are tabulated at the local level and separately reported to the Secretary of State on Election Night through a secure connection. The system is not only safe, it is much improved since the last presidential election. As the world watches Ohio tonight, they will benefit from more accurate and timely reports of voting results.”
Green Party candidate Bob Fitrakis sued Husted on the basis that certain software used in the Ohio election would allow officials to see and change people’s votes. The judge was not convinced.
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8:50 p.m. Tuesday -- Virginia Senate Race Close, Allen Leading
Just one-and-a-half hours after polls closed in Virginia, one of the key senate races between Republican George Allen and Democrat Tim Kaine is still too close to call, but Allen is up more than 50,000 votes with a six-point lead, according to Fox News and CBS.
With 11 House races being decided, Fox has projected that 9 of the incumbents—7 Republicans and 2 Democrats—will retain their seats, with 3 still undecided.
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8:43 p.m. Tuesday -- Rep. Chris Murphy Projected Winner in Connecticut Senate Race
Both NBC and Fox News are projecting Democratic Congressman Chris Murphy to win the Senate seat vacated by retiring Senator Joe Lieberman. He is on track to defeat his Republican challenger Linda McMahon.
USA Today called a Murphy victory at 8:30 p.m. EST.
McMahon, who made her fortune in professional wrestling, spent $42 million of her own money on her campaign.
The Connecticut Secretary of State did not yet have results posted as of 8:45 p.m. EST.
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8:24 p.m. Tuesday - Exit Poll Update
Mitt Romney is projected to win Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Tennessee, according to exit polls tallied by Fox News, CBS News, and NBC News.
These states would give Romney 40 votes in the electoral college, according to CNN, Fox News, and CBS News’s exit polls.
Meanwhile, President Barack Obama is projected to take Vermont, Maine, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Delaware, and Washington D.C., the exit polls show.
Preliminary exit poll results are showing that it is too early to tell who will be the victor in several battleground states--Florida--the largest swing state in the nation--North Carolina, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
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8:04 p.m. Tuesday -- Strong Voter Turnout Throughout US
