Polls are closed – big count coming

No legal challenges in Ohio – polls closed on time.

Big count will be coming in a few minutes – when the ballots come in to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections’ Warehouse.   We will  be getting huge tallies from that point on.

The preliminary figures – from more than 200 thousand absentee votes – shows a HUGE lead in Cuyahoga County for Barack Obama – more than 70 percent lead here… not a big surprise.   Statewide showing the race is very tight.

Issue 5 (Pay Day Loans) – Yes is winning with a 73 percent vote so far.

Issue 6 (Casino) – No is winning here in Cuyahoga so far – with 59 percent.

Those are the early numbers – Now, we’re all waiting to get the complete picture.

It’s nice to talk about results, instead of problems for a change.

Cuyahoga County Elections Director Jane Platten is calling the handling of this vote “Excellent” and “Smooth.”

Keep watching and reading.

Duane

At the WAREHOUSE!

NO challenges yet that will keep the polls open late.

The big scanners are running – scanning but not counting – the early election ballots.

Here’s what to look for.

When polls close, we are going to have some HUGE numbers.   Here’s why?  Nearly 300,000 absentee and early voting ballots have already been scanned and are stored on flash drives.   Those flash drives will be placed in computers to be read when the polls officially close.   That means, for the first time ever, we will have nearly 40 percent of the vote tallied within minutes of the polls closing.

One last point about that Republican legal challenge in Columbus over provisional ballots.   The GOP wants a federal judge to look at the fairness of these “contested” votes, but the suit will NOT keep the polls open late.

We’re watching all the developments.

Let me know what problems you’ve had today – you might see yourself mentioned tonight during our coverage!

Duane

So Far, So Good (kind of)

It’s clear the new voting system in Cuyahoga County is handling this historic election.   (Could we finally remove ourselves from national ridicule?)

But there were problems…

Here are some of the mishaps so far…

3 polling locations opened late.  One (still undisclosed) opened 2 minutes late and polls at Annunciation and Gloria Day Lutheran opened 10 to 15 minutes late.  The problem was blamed on unprepared workers.  Cuyahoga County Board of Elections says no voters were turned away.

Scanning Machines DID malfunction.   The scanning machines are required by law to show the voter at the polls whether their votes counted.   But 25 of them malfunctioned.   5 had to be replaced.   20 were fixed and placed back in service.   Ballots that would have been scanned are being placed in an emergency slot and will be counted tonight by the BIG scanners.

1 Automark Machine broke.

There were long lines in some places, but BOE reports there were no big problems like we’ve seen in the past.

There was some confusion about drivers licenses as a valid id if it contains the old address.   YES.  It’s valid as long as the license has not expired.

Double-Bubble Trouble.   Some voters are voting for a candidate and filling in the candidates name in the “write in” category.   2 bubbles filled is an overcount – but those ballots are being pulled aside and checked later for the voter’s intent – if they vote for the same person, the vote will likely county.

Many reports coming in – I’ll have the latest throughout the day.

Historic Election Coverage BEGINS!

We’re now in the final hours of many months of preparation for this historic election.   And when I say historic, we mean it!

Besides the obvious historic slate of candidates for high office, there is a groundswell of new voters, invigorated to cast their vote.  

As of this writing, it appears Cuyahoga County - Ohio’s largest voting block and 15th largest in the nation – will blow away voting old records   More than 80 percent (and it could approach 90 percent) of the registered voters are likely to vote.   More than 3/4 of a million voters are expected to cast a ballot.  Already, more than 300,000 people have voted – absentee and early in-house – with somewhere around a half million voting on election day.

All this is great news for DEMOCRACY!

Now – the question is will the system handle it?  

As always, I’ll be at the polls watching and at the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections to check the system.   I’ll have reports throughout the day and night — and I’ll be blogging right here with the latest news.

Stay tuned…

Duane

Welcome to my blog!

In addition to my Chief Investigative Reporter duties, I’ll be wearing a lot of hats in the coming months:  Anchor, Political Reporter, etc.   All of these duties are here to serve YOU, so…

YOU tell me what you want to talk about.

I’m looking forward to a good discussion.

Duane Pohlman