Historic Obama Election Night Live Blog. Nov. 4 2008

Gay guys lose gay marriage, Prop 8 in CA, plus AZ and FL

Election Night

(11/04/2008)
Powered by: CoveritLive

2:21

Andy Towle: Hi Towleroad readers – welcome to our live-blog. As this is the first time we’ve done this I’m not sure exactly how it’s going to work, but I’ll be posting video clips, photos, links, and comments from readers. It will probably likely be much like our regular blog to start off – and at the same pace. I welcome you, and also welcome you to send in your comments, as well as photos and reports to tips@towleroad.com

2:23	Andy Towle: I’m sure I’ll be getting a lot of comments – they’ll be moderated and I won’t be approving all of them, but if you have specific reports or thoughts related to the election or items I post, please send them along.

2:26

[Video file]

YouTube: nDq9UIheSf4 Play

2:27	Andy Towle: You may have heard that Obama won the Dixville Notch vote this morning. Here’s a video clip explaining the history of that vote (above).

2:27

[Comment From Mr. GuyTVBlog]
Just saw here in Texas channel 5 news that there is no “record” turn out for voters at one of their “hot spot” locations. They assume everyone voted early or before they went to work. The news caster even thought we were going to see a shot of a long line and the other newscaster at the “hot spot” disappointed by saying “no lines here”. Is this a common thing over other states, no record turnout at local “hot voting spots”?

2:28	[Comment From Tom] Hi, When do you think we will learn about Prop 8? Very late? Or does California report pretty quickly?

2:29	Andy Towle: I have heard that the Prop 8 vote is going to be very tight. I have some photos from a reader who’s volunteering in Fremont that I’ll post shortly.

2:35	[Comment From M. Rafalow] I heard a report that in Harlem, NYC, voter turnout is so high that some have waited 2-3 hours to place their vote. Manhattanites are wondering if voter hours will need to be extended.

2:35	[Comment From Roy] I am in Beverly Hills…..I have had co-workers wait in line over an hour to cast their vote. I voted early by absentee

2:35	[Comment From Steven in Miami] Also they are saying that Colorado isn’t have a huge turn out either……light to moderate turn out…..hope that doesn’t swing it back to the red side of things

2:35	[Comment From rock] In my district in Mpls. lines were down the block. I have not in 12 yrs seen that many people waiting to vote at 10:00 in the morning, it took me 1 1/2 hrs to get through

2:36

2:36

2:38

Andy Towle: These are some shots from our reader Joe Rodriguez (he’s pictured). He’s working for “No on 8” in Fremont, California.

Joe writes: “We are volunteer poll workers for no on 8. I just had a man tell me that I am unamerican, and another shook my hand, congratulated me for doing this work and told me that his daughter is gay. It is a mixed bag. The heart of the culture wars! Half the people are supportive and the other half aren’t. We have had people tear up our no on 8 signs and scream at us. And telling us that what we are doing is illegal. It is difficult to see the face of hatred and intolerance so close up. This is going to be close election. “

2:39	[Comment From Peter] I am happy to report that there was a large turnout of people at my precinct in Venice Beach, Ca. Everyone in line was talking about voting NO on 8, so that’s a good sign. Not too many more liberal places in CA than Venice though, so I guess it’s to be expected…

2:39

[Comment From Matt]
Andy, this live blog is an excellent idea. I’ve been a devoted follower of your blog for a couple of years now but this is the first time I’ve ever commented. I just wanted to say congratulations on your coverage of the election and the way you’re bringing the new to everyone across the globe, especially highlighting paramount issues like Prop 8. I hope everyone in the US gets the leader they deserve tomorrow morning and the bigots on Prop 8 get defeated.

2:40

mattrett: Hi, this is Matthew Rettenmund from BoyCulture. Posted my voting experience here. But that’s NYC. To the person who mentioned Colorado, I’ve read that over 50% of registered voters there early-voted, hence the light voting now. Of the early voters, 33.44% were registered Dem, 32.64% were registered Rep and 24.71% were registered Ind. A Marist poll from Oct. 30 stated that the actual voting break-down among early voters was 59% Obama and 41% McCain, so it would appear, if numbers are correct, that Inds broke strongly for Obama and there were a lotta Obamacons in the mix, too.

2:41	Andy Towle: You’re welcome – it’s the first time, so please be patient. I’ll get the hang of it in a bit and will be bringing you more multimedia. Also, Michael Goff, my partner here at Towleroad will be joining us and Matthew Rettenmund (ah, I see he just did).

2:41	Andy Towle: We’ll also be joined by Corey Johnson who was with me at the Democratic National Convention.

2:41	[Comment From Doug] Voting here in Indianapolis was quite brisk this morning. I arrived at my polling place at 6:15 am. It normally takes about 15 minutes for me to vote, not this year, lines were very long & it took nearly an hour. I was surprised since we have early voting in out county.

2:42

[Comment From John Block – Blockmeister]
St. Louis here. Waiting in line for an hour to vote at 6:00AM this morning, which is very unusual for my voting location. I’ve voted for twice before here for presidential elections, and never saw anything like this. Buddy of mine just called and he took 1 1/2 hours to vote over lunch at another location here in St. Louis.

2:42	[Comment From mel] i live in southern orange county, ca. my drive up to work there was a yes on 8 sign every 50 feet, large banners on the freeway overpasses. it’s very disheartening to see this, but we all need to keep spreading the word for no on 8 and hope people will do the right thing.

2:42	[Comment From Fred] The Twin Cities had block-long lines in some locations during the early morning rush after polls opened, some have subsided as usual during the day. My small town suburb had double the usual staff and equipment and only a five munite wait at 10:30AM

2:42

[Comment From Tim]
I live in West Hollywood and waited for over an hour at the polling place that I’ve been going to for almost 10 years. I’ve never waited more than 10 or 15 minutes in the past. Also, as far as Prop 8 goes, when it’s a tight race, we sometimes don’t find out until very late (or even the next morning).

2:45	Andy Towle: Here’s Cindy McCain on Larry King last night responding to the Cheney endorsement.

2:45

[Video file]

YouTube: 1zMkssydCMc Play

2:45	mattrett: On Prop 8, do you Californians feel that most voters understand that NO means YES to gay marriage? It seems intentionally confusing…

2:46	[Comment From Cale] Here in Meadville (Podunk), PA, lines are taking an hour or so at all three voter locations. A good majority of the voters, however, are the college students from Allegheny which is very liberal. Perhaps this is a good sign.

2:46

[Comment From Austin]
Just an interesting tidbit on Prop 8 in California. I am a registered Republican (though I vote Democrat. Long story; I want to, in my own minute way, influence the demographics), and yesterday, I received my voter guide. Under Prop. 8, there was no recommendation, just said, “OPEN.” I wonder if that will sway the voters at all, that the Republican party is not taken an official stance on the matter (which is a stance in itself, actually).

2:47	Andy Towle: More reports: from voters around the country:

2:47	[Comment From Jonathan] Texas has had early voting for quite a few years at this point. People are really used to it and it has been quite brisk across the board. It does not surprise me that day of turnout is low. I think the end result will still be very high for Texas

2:47	[Comment From Scott] Schools are closed in NV today for a teacher development day but the elementary school behind us if PACKED and they had to call out the cops to help with the traffic issue. It’s still a huge problem back there and they are saying this happening all over NV.

2:47

[Comment From Sparty]
Raleigh, N.C. — A late start will see one Wake County polling place open late Tuesday night.

At the Barwell Road Community Center, about 300 voters had to wait for ballots after an election judge saw her grandson drive away with them in his car. The delay lasted about 30 minutes.

The Wake County Board of Elections met Tuesday afternoon and decided to extend the hours at that site until 8:30 p.m.

2:48

[Comment From Martin]
From Columbus, OH – got in line right at 6:30 am with about 100 people already there waiting. There has to be a better way to go through the validation process – this was the biggest hold up. Only 4 people going through voter registration books was the bottleneck, took about 1.5 hours to get through.

2:48	[Comment From JKM] In North Potomac, Maryland we had a 2 1/2 hour wait this morning upon arriving at the polls at 7AM. Many of my co-workers have reported long lines in DC and VA too.

2:51

[Comment From Clint M. San Diego]
I just finished my shift at the polls in La Jolla, CA and so proud to be there wtih such an organized group of people. It was cold and raining, but we stuck it out to give our message. The pollster said last election her site received 200 ballots all day, today by 9:30am she had collected 160. The record is bound to be shattered. Of the 160ish people we greeted between 6:30am and 10:30am I was happy to see only about 10 that were negative (in favor of Prop 8). I would be nieve to expect that result everywhere, but I really hope the net result is in our favor. Good Luck EVERYONE AND GET OUT THERE AND VOTE!!!!!

2:51	[Comment From Darren] I went to my local poll this am outside of Atlanta and the line was wrapped outside and snaking down long sections of cooridors in the elementary school I vote in. It took roughly 2 hrs to vote this morning, shorter than I expected to be honest.

2:53	[Comment From Mr. GuyTVBlog]

2:58	[Comment From Tom S.] From Atlanta. We arrived at 6am, one hour before the polls opened, and there were about 50 people ahead of us. Within 15 minutes, the line more than doubled. And when I walked out at 7:50am, there had to be at least 300 in line.

2:58

[Comment From Michael]
Lancaster, PA – While county will most certainly go Republican, I was surprised to see alot of new faces at my local polling place (approximate wait time first thing this morning: 45 minutes). Usually its a sea of older white faces, not so this time around! There college age kids, African Americans and Hispanics, that in previous elections, don’t appear to participate.

2:58	[Comment From Lancaster Voter] I’m based in this particular bag of fun in PA. Voting lines are significant and every polling place is packed. I didn’t do exit polling, but I saw just as many Obama buttons as McCain buttons.

3:02	Andy Towle: Here’s some interesting video from Penn State. Nearly 1000 students in line to vote.

3:03

[Video file]

YouTube: Whc4OmprF2s Play

3:04	mattrett: Good to see the young’uns, especially in PA. Not many young faces at my Manhattan precinct. Well, not naturally young faces. 🙂

3:05	Andy Towle: The youth vote will be so important in this election, I think.

3:06	mattrett: If they don’t show up in large numbers, we need to lower the voting age to get more of them in. The children in all those national kid polls (Nickelodeon, etc.) voted Obama. But I think they’ll show up in good numbers.

3:07	Andy Towle: Here’s a freaky photo that was going around yesterday.

3:07

3:08	Andy Towle: Some thoughts from outside the country:

3:08	[Comment From Jean-Jacques] Hi from Switzerland, where the poll says 86% of the swiss people would choose Obama for president!!!