Live Blog: The U.S. Presidential Election
November 06, 2012
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U.S. President Barack Obama speaking at the McCormick Place convention center in Chicago.
U.S. President Barack Obama
"Tonight in this election, you, the American people, reminded us that while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up, we have fought our way back, and we know in our hearts that for the United States of America the best is yet to come."
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Party of Regions MP Vladyslav Lukyanov, speaking to RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service:
"America, having voted for Obama, chose stability and the way of evolutionary improvement. Romney, as we can see, conceded victory to his opponent. America understands that it needs strong government in order to solve its problems. Unfortunately, in Ukraine we witness a different situation. The peaceful end of the election campaign and the clear signals for the society is a positive example for Ukraine, in which direction it should move.
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Celebrations And Disappointment As Obama Wins Re-election
People celebrate in front of the White House in Washington after television networks announced the reelection of U.S. President Barack Obama.
The Democratic Party faithful watch election-night coverage in Columbus, Ohio.
Obama supporters celebrate in his hometown of Chicago after CNN projected victory for the incumbent president.
Obama supporter Ajay Narayan cheers during a Democratic election-night party at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada as a TV network announces results.
Mitt Romney supporters react to the election results outside the former Massachusetts governor's presidential-campaign headquarters in Boston.
Romney supporters react to news of Obama's victory at an election-night party in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Keesha Patterson (left) of Ft. Washington, Maryland, proposes marriage to her girlfriend Rowan Ha during an election-night rally at Obama's campaign headquarters in Chicago. Obama has expressed support for the legalization of same-sex marriage.
People watch results roll in at Times Square in New York City.
Obama supporters celebrate in front of the White House in Washington.
Obama supporters celebrate at the Harlem State Office building in New York.
A supporter waits for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney to deliver his concession speech in Boston.
Obama supporters celebrate in Chicago, Illinois.
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney delivers his concession speech to supporters attending his election-night rally in Boston.
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama embrace Vice President Joe Biden and Jill Biden in Chicago moments after the television networks called the election in their favor.
President Barack Obama hugs his daughters, Malia and Sasha, as First Lady Michelle Obama looks on during his election night victory rally in Chicago.
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Republican Party presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaking at his campaign site at a convention center in Boston, Massachusetts.
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
"I have just called President Obama to congratulate him on his victory. His supporters and his campaign also deserve congratulations. I wish all of them well, but particularly the president, the first lady, and their daughters. This is a time of great challenges for America and I pray that the president will be successful in guiding our nation."
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The Atlantic
reports: "Via @BarackObama, the Most Popular Tweet of All Time"
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All major national networks have called the race. The projections is thatBarack Obama has been re-elected President of the United States.
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The results (electoral votes in parentheses):
Battleground States
# Colorado (9) - 68% reporting - Obama 51% - Romney 47%
# Florida (29) - 90% reporting - Obama 50% - Romney 49%
# Ohio (18) - 71% reporting - Obama 50% - Romney 48%
# Virginia (13) - 78% reporting - Romney 50% - Obama 49%
States Called
Mitt Romney
# Alabama (9)
# Arizona (11)
# Arkansas (6)
# Georgia (16)
# Idaho (4)
# Indiana (11)
# Kansas (6)
# Kentucky (8)
# Luoisiana (8)
# Mississippi (6)
# Missouri (10)
# Montana (3)
# Nebraska (5)
# North Carolina (15)
# North Dakota (3)
# Oklahoma (7)
# South Carolina (9)
# South Dakota (3)
# Tennessee (11)
# Texas (38)
# Utah (6)
# West Virginia (5)
# Wyoming (3)
Barack Obama
# California (55)
# Connecticut (7)
# Delaware (3)
# Hawaii (4)
# Illinois (20)
# Iowa (6)
# Maine (4)
# Maryland (10)
# Massachusetts (11)
# Michigan (16)
# Minnesota (10)
# New Hampshire (4)
# New Jersey (14)
# New Mexico (5)
# New York (29)
# Oregon (7)
# Pennsylvania (20)
# Rhode Island (4)
# Vermont (3)
# Washington (12)
# Washington, DC (3)
# Wisconsin (10)
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As the results stand now, a 269-269 contest is still possible -- this is what it would look like.
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The results (electoral votes in parentheses):
Battleground States
# Florida (29) - 67% reporting - Obama 50% - Romney 49%
# New Hampshire (4) - 8% reporting - Obama 61% - Romney 37%
# Ohio (18) - 25% reporting - Obama 56% - Romney 43%
# Virginia (13) - 36% reporting - Romney 54% - Obama 45%
States Called
Mitt Romney
# Alabama (9)
# Arkansas (6)
# Georgia (16)
# Indiana (11)
# Kentucky (8)
# Mississippi (6)
# Oklahoma (7)
# South Carolina (9)
# Tennessee (11)
# West Virginia (5)
Barack Obama
# Connecticut (7)
# Delaware (3)
# Illinois (20)
# Maine (4)
# Maryland (10)
# Massachusetts (11)
# Rhode Island (4)
# Vermont (3)
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The results (electoral votes in parentheses):
Battleground States
# Florida (29) - 67% reporting - Obama 50% - Romney 49%
# New Hampshire (4) - 8% reporting - Obama 61% - Romney 37%
# Ohio (18) - 25% reporting - Obama 56% - Romney 43%
# Virginia (13) - 36% reporting - Romney 54% - Obama 45%
States Called
Mitt Romney
# Alabama (9)
# Arkansas (6)
# Georgia (16)
# Indiana (11)
# Kentucky (8)
# Mississippi (6)
# Oklahoma (7)
# South Carolina (9)
# Tennessee (11)
# West Virginia (5)
Barack Obama
# Connecticut (7)
# Delaware (3)
# Illinois (20)
# Maine (4)
# Maryland (10)
# Massachusetts (11)
# Rhode Island (4)
# Vermont (3)
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Obama senior advisor David Plouffe to "MSNBC" - "Too close to call is not bad news. These battleground states were always going to be close. Everything we’re seeing in the actual returns encourages us greatly – turnout, how people are voting. We’re liking what we see a great deal."
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The satire site "The Onion" with typically sharp commentary:
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Via Micah Cohen at 538:
Just more than three-quarters of the vote has been reported in Chesterfield County, Va., an important suburban and exurban region southwest of Richmond. In the tally so far, Mitt Romney leads President Obama 54 percent to 45 percent. If those percentages hold, Mr. Romney’s performance there would match almost exactly Senator John McCain’s margin of victory in Chesterfield County in 2008: 53 percent to 46 percent. Former President George W. Bush, however, when he carried the state in 2004, won Chesterfield County with 63 percent of the vote.
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Mitt Romney: "We fought to the very end and I think that's why we'll be successful. I just finished writing a victory speech. It's about 1,118 words. And I'm sure it'll change before I'm finished because I haven't passed it around to my family, and friends, and advisers to get their reaction. But I've only written one speech at this point."
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You probably won't hear a lot about Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson:
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In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, New Yorkers head to makeshift polling sites:
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Via Rachel Weiner of "The Washington Post" -- About an hour before the first states began reporting, Mitt Romney told reporters on his campaign plane that he had just finished writing a victory speech of around 1,100 words. He said he had “only written one speech at this point.”
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Exit polling shows Virginia as a 49%-49% tie -- the polls close momentarily.
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CNN has called Vermont for President Obama
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Via CNN -- exit polls in Florida show state electorate is 67 percent white, 13 percent black, 16 percent latino. In 2008 whites were 71 percent, blacks 13 percent, and latinos 14 percent -- and Obama won the state.
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First results are starting to trickle in:
Indiana (11 electoral votes) - 1% reporting - Romney 60% - Obama 32%
Kentucky (8 electoral votes) - <1% reporting - Romney 69% - Obama 30%
New Hampshire (4 electoral votes) - <1% reporting - Obama 65% - Romney 33%
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Interesting post from Gizmodo on the
legality of sharing pictures of your ballots.
An excerpt is below [read the
full piece]:
In New York—from which most of my friends' [eds: the author of the Gizmodo piece] photos have been posted—the § 17-130 law is unequivocal. "Any person who...makes or keeps any memorandum of anything occurring within the booth, or directly or indirectly, reveals to another the name of any candidate voted for by such voter; or shows his ballot after it is prepared for voting, to any person so as to reveal the contents...is guilty of a misdemeanor." Ditto Florida, and the overwhelming majority of municipalities.
U.S. -- People vote during the U.S. presidential election at a displaced polling center in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, New York, 06Nov2012
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Vote watchers in NYC can look to the Empire State Building for results [READ MORE]
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Joao Soares (pic below), head of the OSCE's observation mission to the United States for the 2012 presidential election, tells RFE/RL: "In the OSCE, as you know, some countries east of Vienna say that we have double standards, and we don't have double standards. [This visit] is proof that we don't have double standards: We observe in the same way in Western countries and in Eastern European countries, especially those which came [out of] the former Soviet Union, in Central Asia and the Caucasus, [and] also in the Balkans."
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We CANNOT verify this...but need to post it.
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Very useful map from the Daily Kos on poll closing times [HERE]
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Why the donkey? Why the Elephant? [READ IT]
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Americans get out the vote -- in pictures [full gallery]
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RFE/RL Washington correspondent Richard Solash talked to some voters in Arlington, VA:
Will Blake, a Romney voter - "I didn't see a dramatic difference between the two candidates [on foreign policy] to the point that I thought it differentiated President Obama enough to swing my opinion, to be frank."
Brandon Colet, an Obama voter - "Although I don't believe in most of [Obama's] fiscal policies, it's most of his social policies I support more than Romney's."
Joe Reddan, who declined to say which candidate he supports - "The campaign season was one of the most negative I've ever seen. If you don't have a record to run on, then you have to disparage the other guy, and if you're the other guy and you can't elucidate a vision -- it makes it really a lot of acrimony, not a lot of positive messaging."
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Both campaigns are trying to get people out to the polls:
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The big day has arrived. After more than a year of campaigning, voters in the U.S head to the polls today to choose their president. We will live blog the results here -- with an eye towards our broadcast countries.