Washington

Not to be too difficult, but in Washington it's all-mail, except ONE county is still a hold-out.  Pierce County (largest city being Tacoma) is the last hold-out on the all-mail system, and they still have polling places.

8 pm is still accurate, because counties will only release results after 8 pm.  And there are several in-person voting locations in every county, and they are open until 8 pm on Tuesday.  

I sometimes wish our system here in Washington was as good as in Oregon.  They seem to have most of the results ready to go by 8 pm.  But you don't always have to wait for days.  I'm still shocked the Gregoire was announced as the winner so early in the Gov race this past November.

---

by: ChuckInSeattle @ Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 00:27:40 AM CST

All-Mail

That is a really interesting concept. Being unfamiliar with it I just went to the Washington SOS's website and wow is it good.

Anyway, if anyone is curious like I was, check out these links:

http://secstate.wa.gov/documen...

http://wei.secstate.wa.gov/oso...

---

by: RuralDem @ Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 04:47:53 AM CST

[ Parent ]

The Oregon difference

All ballots here must be received by a certain time (I forget, 8pm?) on election day. (No elections here on this side of the river today.)

While it's advertised as a "vote by mail" state, there are drop-off locations set up like mailboxes in key locations starting a few days before election day.

OTOH, WA ballots must only be postmarked by election day and are still accepted a couple of weeks after, I think.

---

by: tietack @ Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 08:36:08 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Texas

There are also 11 constitutional amendments in Texas that are being voted on today.

---

by: wmayes @ Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 05:46:02 AM CST

Amendments

I thought Texas Republicans were in the game of saving taxpayers money.  Why would the Republican dominated legislature decide to hold a costly election simply to vote on amendments.  Outside of Houston, there really aren't any top races on the ballot.  Any of these measures deal with tax increases or bond spending?  Republican legislatures are great at this.  Rather than voting for a tax increase or deficit spending, they prefer to pass it onto taxpayers to decide.  It's an easy way out for them, which begs to question whether legislatures are even necessary when Republicans control the helm.  Why should taxpayers subsidize deadbeat legislators.

---

by: election09 @ Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 10:17:07 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Cause the Constitution says so

Almost any new law in Texas is done so through Constitutional Amendments. Our constitution sucks, as does our legislature (6 months out of 2 years? Worthless!)

All I can say is vote yes on Prop 4, which gives Universities more funding or access to it or something.Point is, give my school more cash that has to be spent on academics so that our President doesn't end up blowing all our cash on football!

---

by: trowaman @ Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 10:28:57 AM CST

[ Parent ]

You forgot the Charlotte mayor

---

by: jmartin4s @ Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 07:51:53 AM CST

Unless they just edited it, it's on there next to North Carolina.

---

by: JeremiahTheMessiah @ Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 09:33:23 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Breckinridge

Have to like the odds of legalization winning.  They collected 1400 signatures which is 56% of the population.  Also, if it passed, Breckinridge would be the first place in the country to legalize paraphernalia.

---

by: clemensol @ Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 10:14:55 AM CST

There you Go

Legalize it all you want, yet if it conflicts with state statute, then implementing it will be difficult.  Enforcing it will be quite interesting.

---

by: election09 @ Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 10:18:27 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Georgia Suburbs

I've tried to find the party affiliations of the candidates (damn non-partisan elections).  Based on what I've found, I'm rooting for the following:

Conyers Mayor: Harvey
Kennesaw Council Post 5: Cullins
Marietta Mayor: Bolton
Marietta Council Ward 5: Dodd
Powder Springs Council 3: Hudson  

Follow the elections in Georgia at the 2010 Georgia Race Tracker.

---

by: TheUnknown285 @ Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 11:18:21 AM CST

Unless a Washington race is really, really close

You should still know the results tonight

---

by: meekermariner @ Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 11:36:07 AM CST

Voted in my local elections

some asshole predictably tried to suppress my vote.  

---

by: Kanamit @ Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 12:17:32 PM CST

High turnout in Maine

Likely to help the "no" side: http://www.politico.com/blogs/...

---

by: Darth Jeff @ Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 13:04:01 PM CST

Not feeling good about this election

I am 2/3 on my way to believe that the way to hell out of NYC is through Holland tunnel.

---

by: fai calif @ Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 13:32:20 PM CST

Minnesota

St Paul mayor is also on tap along with scattered other local elections. I just voted in my local School Board election (4 candidates, 4 slots) and on a school property tax levy proposal. Big turnout so far. Nothing like a proposed property tax hike to bring out the voters.

BTW Minneapolis's election results tonight will be interesting. No real competitive races but they are using Instant Runoff Voting for the first time. Interested to see how it goes.

---

by: MinnesotaMike @ Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 15:48:45 PM CST

Nitpicky

Just the Virginia House of Delegates is up, not the entire General Assembly.

Also, there's an open House seat in New Hampshire that's being contested by two former Republican representatives of the district, one of whom switched to the Democratic party.

---

by: Johnny Longtorso @ Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 17:33:36 PM CST

Additional races to watch

What about Maine's vote on marijuana, and Kalamazoo Michigan vote on a municipal non-discrimination ordinance?

---

by: gary47290 @ Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 18:36:51 PM CST